Donald Trump’s Justice Department has now launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the woman who successfully sued him for sexual abuse and defamation, in what critics are calling another stunning escalation of his revenge-driven war against personal enemies.
According to CNN, federal prosecutors are investigating whether Carroll committed perjury during testimony connected to her civil lawsuits against Trump.
The investigation is the latest example of Trump’s increasingly aggressive push to weaponize the Justice Department against critics, opponents, prosecutors, journalists, and people who have personally embarrassed him.
And few people have embarrassed Trump more publicly than Carroll.
Two separate juries found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming the former advice columnist, awarding her millions of dollars in damages after Trump repeatedly attacked her publicly, claimed she “wasn’t his type,” and insisted she fabricated the assault story to sell books.
Now Trump’s DOJ appears to be turning its attention toward her instead.
The move comes under acting Attorney General Todd Blanche — Trump’s former personal defense lawyer — whose Justice Department has already faced mounting accusations of politicization and retaliation.
Blanche himself is reportedly recused from the Carroll matter because he previously represented Trump in appeals tied to the case. But critics argue that distinction does little to ease concerns that the administration is using federal law enforcement to settle personal scores.
Especially because the investigation itself appears tied to a technical dispute over litigation funding disclosures rather than the core facts of Carroll’s claims.
The alleged inconsistency stems from Carroll initially stating in a videotaped deposition that no outside party was funding her case. Later, shortly before trial, her attorneys disclosed that Hoffman’s nonprofit had helped cover some legal costs.
Trump attorney Alina Habba accused Carroll’s lawyers at the time of concealing the funding arrangement.
But the judge overseeing the case, Lewis Kaplan, ultimately ruled the issue did not undermine Carroll’s credibility and blocked Trump’s legal team from turning the trial into a sideshow over who paid legal bills.
That apparently did not stop Trump’s DOJ from revisiting it years later.
The investigation is now reportedly being handled by federal prosecutors in Chicago, where Hoffman’s nonprofit is based.
Meanwhile, Trump is still trying to overturn the massive judgments against him.
The president has appealed both the $5 million sexual abuse verdict and the separate $83 million defamation judgment. The Supreme Court has repeatedly delayed deciding whether it will even hear Trump’s appeal in the sexual abuse case, deferring action yet again Wednesday morning.
For critics of the administration, the optics of the new investigation are impossible to ignore.
Trump spent years openly demanding revenge against prosecutors, witnesses, journalists, and political enemies. Now, the woman who beat him in court twice is suddenly facing a federal criminal investigation led by his own Justice Department.
Which is exactly the kind of thing Trump’s supporters once claimed only happened in corrupt authoritarian governments.
