Elizabeth Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist, faces a criminal investigation from the Justice Department after accusing Donald Trump of sexual assault. Several outlets reported on the Justice Department launching the probe into Carroll.
The investigation focuses on whether there was perjury on Carroll’s part when delivering her testimony in the two lawsuits against the Republican president. Here’s all you need to know about E Jean Carroll’s lawsuits.
E Jean Carroll lawsuits against Trump: 5 things to know
- Carroll has filed two civil lawsuits against President Trump, accusing him of sexual assault.
- One alleged that Trump sexually abused Carroll in a New York department store in the mid-1990s.
- The other lawsuit is for defaming Carroll.
- This stems from the 2019 interaction where Trump denied the assault, the lawsuit alleges.
- It adds that Trump said Carroll was not his type and further claimed she had made up the sexual assault allegation to boost the sales of her book.
Prosecutors are hinging the case on a 2022 deposition made by Carroll, 82, that she got no outside funding for her lawsuit. In a 2022 deposition on video, Carroll had told then-Trump attorney Alina Habba that no one else was paying for her legal fees.
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However, this turned out to be inaccurate, since it later came to light that billionaire Reid Hoffman had footed some of the legal bills and expenses. Carroll remains embroiled in many legal battles with Trump. She got millions in awards from juries and Trump is appealing the matter. The president appealed the $5 million sexual abuse case judgement to the Supreme Court. Carroll was awarded $83 million in the defamation case, and Trump reportedly plans to appeal this as well.
Who is E Jean Carroll?
E Jean Carroll wrote for Elle Magazine and her advice column ran from 1993 to 2019 – becoming one of the longest running such columns in American publishing history. She also holds the distinction of being the first female contributing editor for Playboy magazine.
Carroll has also written for other notable publications like Rolling Stone, Esquire, and Vanity Fair. Her accusation against Trump came via her book – What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal, which was published in 2019.
In the case between Carroll and Trump, her attorneys had told the judge they secured money from Hoffman’s nonprofit. They clarified that Carroll had not met nor had any conversations with anyone linked to the nonprofit. At the time, Habba had told the court that Carroll’s team ‘conspired to conceal the truth for nearly six months.’
