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| E. Jean Carroll leaves a New York City courtroom (NY Times) |
The chief U.S. prosecutor in Chicago said last night that, contrary to media reports, he has not launched a criminal investigation of E. Jean Carroll, the woman who accused Donald Trump of sexual assault. But that does not mean he won't initiate a Carroll-related probe. From an Associated Press (AP) report filed at 8:31 p.m. CDT yesterday:
The top federal prosecutor in Chicago denied Thursday evening that his office had opened an investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the longtime advice columnist who has said Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York department store 30 years ago, hours after multiple news organizations reported that the Justice Department was investigating whether she had lied during the course of civil litigation against Trump.
But Andrew Boutros, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, issued a statement roughly 24 hours after the first report was published saying that his office “has not opened — and has never opened — a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll.”
What caused the mixup, and where might any investigation be headed? Last night's AP report touches on those issues, noting that it appears a probe might focus on a nonprofit organization that allegedly helped fund Carroll's case against Trump, rather than Carroll herself. From the report:
A person familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, initially told the AP on Thursday morning that investigators were focused on Carroll but later clarified that the actual focus was on a nonprofit that had helped fund her case.
A lawyer for Carroll declined to comment through a spokesperson on Thursday.
The Justice Department investigation into Carroll was first reported by CNN on Wednesday evening.
Reports of the investigation added to the perception from Democrats and other former officials that a Justice Department meant to make prosecutorial decisions independent of the White House is being weaponized against the president’s political enemies. Trump’s Justice Department has opened multiple investigations into perceived adversaries of the Republican president, including securing an indictment last month against former FBI Director James Comey.
The Comey case is just one example of Trump's stated desire to seek retaliation against perceived political opponents. The BBC reported last September that Trump openly was calling for his Department of Justice (DOJ) to bring prosecutions against Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Democratic Senator Adam Schiff. At about the same time, multiple news outlets reported that Trump said "others" would be prosecuted following the indictment of Comey for taking photos of seashells.
It's not hard to see E. Jean Carroll as a Trump target, given that he has repeatedly trashed her -- calling her a "nut job," who said she enjoyed being sexually assaulted, and was "mentally sick." Trump also has threatened to sue her and the judge who ruled against him in her lawsuit.
How did Carroll wind up crossing swords with Trump? This is from the AP report:
Carroll has said a flirtatious, chance encounter with Trump in 1996 at Bergdorf Goodman’s Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan ended violently. She said Trump slammed her against a dressing room wall, pulled down her tights and forced himself on her. Trump has called the allegations a “made-up scam,” and he has attacked her motivations, saying they were politically driven or arose from a desire to promote her memoir.
A jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her, and she was awarded $5 million. The following year, another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in a defamation case related to Trump’s social media posts about her.
If the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago does not start an investigation directly against Carroll, could it still bring a case that has strong political overtones? According to last night's AP report, the answer appears to be yes:
The reports this week said the Justice Department was scrutinizing a statement Carroll made in the course of the civil litigation that no one else was paying her legal fees. It later became public that a Chicago-based organization backed by Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, had helped fund Carroll’s case. Trump’s lawyers in the civil case accused Carroll of concealing that information, which they said called into question whether the case was politically motivated.
Multiple news organizations, including The Washington Post and NBC News, cited unnamed sources in reporting Thursday that the investigation was actually centered on Hoffman’s nonprofit, which the person familiar with the matter confirmed to AP.
A month before the first trial in 2023, then-Trump lawyer Alina Habba sought to delay it, saying in court papers that new revelations about Hoffman partially funding Carroll’s case “raises significant questions as to Plaintiff’s credibility, as well as her motive for commencing and/or continuing the instant action.”
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a Dec. 30, 2024, ruling, upheld the $5 million jury award from 2023. The court addressed Carroll’s credibility after Trump accused her of lying, during a deposition, about how her case was funded.
The court cited Carroll’s explanation that when the question about Hoffman’s contributions was first posed to her in 2022, she had forgotten about “the limited outside funding” received in September 2020.
“It showed that Ms. Carroll simply was not involved in the matter of who was or was not funding her litigation costs,” the appeals court said.
Issues regarding political overtones of a potential DOJ probe, raise this question: Who is Reid Hoffman, and what are his political leanings? He has an estimated net worth of $2.7 billion, with business connections to LinkedIn, Microsoft, PayPal, and Greylock Partners. According to a report at CNBC, Hoffman has become a political kingmaker for progressive causes. He is the largest donor to the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. Here is more from last night's AP report:
Hoffman has defended the financial assistance, saying in a social media post that “supporting women’s fight for progress and justice in philanthropy, politics and business has been a longstanding priority of mine, as is supporting America against the threat of Trump.”
A court entry earlier this month said Trump will not have to pay the award until the U.S. Supreme Court gets a chance to review the case or reject an appeal. The appeals court agreed to a request by one of Trump’s lawyers that it let Trump delay the payment to Carroll, though he was required to post a $7.4 million bond to cover any additional interest costs, a request Carroll’s attorney had made.
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