She Beat Trump in Court Twice. Now His DOJ Is Criminally Investigating Her.

May 28, 2026

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the writer who won two civil trials against Donald Trump for sexual abuse and defamation. The probe focuses on whether Carroll committed perjury in 2022 testimony related to her legal fees. The department launching the investigation is run by Todd Blanche, who served as Trump's personal defense attorney in those very same appeals before joining the administration as acting Attorney General.

The Man Running the DOJ Was Trump's Lawyer

Todd Blanche spent years defending Donald Trump in civil and criminal court. He represented Trump in appeals of Carroll's lawsuits before being appointed acting Attorney General in 2025. When Carroll's cases were being litigated, Blanche was on Trump's legal team. Now Blanche controls the department that just opened a federal criminal file on Trump's accuser.

Blanche has been formally recused from the investigation. But recusal does not mean the department he runs did not initiate it. Senior DOJ leadership referred the probe to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, led by Andrew Boutros, a Trump appointee. The referral came from above. The recusal came after.

"He's using the power of the DOJ to go after his own victims." — Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA)

What the Investigation Actually Claims

Prosecutors are examining Carroll's 2022 deposition, in which she stated that no one else was paying her legal fees. It was later revealed that Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic donor, had contributed to her legal costs. The gap between her sworn statement and the later revelation forms the basis for the perjury theory.

Carroll's attorneys have indicated they will file a vindictive prosecution motion immediately if charges are brought, a legal doctrine that bars the government from prosecuting someone in retaliation for constitutionally protected conduct, including using the courts to seek justice against a sitting president.

Two separate juries have already evaluated the underlying events. In 2023, a Manhattan jury awarded Carroll $5 million after finding Trump liable for sexually abusing her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s and for defaming her. In 2024, a second jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in a separate defamation case. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld both judgments. The DOJ itself separately asked the Supreme Court in May to kill the verdict.

A Pattern of Prosecution Against Trump's Critics

The Carroll investigation fits a pattern. The Trump DOJ has opened or pursued investigations against former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Sen. Adam Schiff. A federal grand jury is now reportedly examining how the DOJ itself handled the Schiff probe, a signal that oversight pressure is building inside the department even as new targets are added.

Sen. Schiff called the Carroll probe "a disgusting insult to victims everywhere." The women's rights group UltraViolet described it as "another craven and corrupt attempt by Trump to silence survivors and his personal opponents."

Carroll won in court. She won on appeal. Now the DOJ is spending federal resources trying to criminalize her for the financing details of the lawsuit she brought to hold Trump accountable. Federal prosecutors have the authority to investigate perjury claims. They rarely use it against civil trial winners in cases their boss lost, through a department whose acting head was that boss's personal lawyer during the very appeals at issue. The case now sits with U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros in Chicago, a Trump appointee, who opened the federal file after a referral from senior DOJ leadership that Blanche oversees.

Sources

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