{"id":1944,"date":"2026-05-28T19:05:41","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:05:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1944"},"modified":"2026-05-28T19:05:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T19:05:41","slug":"doj-probes-democratic-allied-nonprofit-that-helped-pay-e-jean-carrolls-legal-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1944","title":{"rendered":"DOJ probes Democratic-allied nonprofit that helped pay E. Jean Carroll\u2019s legal bills"},"content":{"rendered":"

The investigation centers on statements Carroll made during a deposition in her civil lawsuit against President Donald Trump, in which a jury found that he had sexually assaulted and defamed her.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she won\u2019t run for president in 2028<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
E. Jean Carroll exits federal court in New York in 2024. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The Justice Department has launched a criminal probe into a Chicago-based nonprofit backed by billionaire Reid Hoffman over its payment of legal bills of E. Jean Carroll, the advice columnist who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, according to two people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n

The investigation, which is expected to look at statements Carroll made during a deposition, could also morph into a criminal perjury probe against the 82-year-old columnist, said the people familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing probe. The nascent investigation follows years of Trump publicly deriding Carroll, his accuser, and Hoffman, a major Democratic Party donor.<\/p>\n

A representative for Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, declined to comment. An attorney for Carroll could not immediately be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

The investigation stems from Carroll\u2019s civil lawsuit against Trump, in which a jury found that Trump sexually assaulted and defamed her, delivering her a $5 million verdict. Carroll also won a second defamation trial against Trump, with the jury awarding her a $83.3 million civil judgment.<\/p>\n

Trump, who denies the allegations, has so far been unsuccessful in his appeals of the verdicts.<\/p>\n

In a 2022 deposition, Carroll testified that outside funders were not helping her to bring the lawsuit. It later became public that Hoffman\u2019s nonprofit, American Future Republic, paid some of her legal bills.<\/p>\n

The investigation is centered on this statement and whether American Future Republic, which largely gives grants to left leaning causes, could have directed Carroll to lie during that deposition, according to the people familiar with the probe. The investigation is examining potential money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction charges, the people said.<\/p>\n

Any conspiracy investigation probably would extend to Carroll.<\/p>\n

The Justice Department declined to comment, saying it does not discuss ongoing investigations.<\/p>\n

The probe, which is based in Chicago, marks the Justice Department\u2019s latest attempt to wield its powers to investigate and embroil Trump\u2019s foes in potentially costly legal investigations. Some investigations into these adversaries have done little more than garner headlines, with the efforts gaining little legal momentum within the Justice Department and the FBI. Others, including cases against former FBI director James B. Comey<\/a>, have resulted in indictments. One case against him was dismissed <\/b>after a judge determined that the U.S. attorney who brought the case was unlawfully appointed. A second indictment is also expected to face significant legal hurdles.<\/p>

Read more What are Republicans going to campaign on?<\/a><\/p>\n

CNN first reported<\/a> on the investigation tied to Carroll\u2019s case. The investigation became public on the same day that the Supreme Court again postponed deciding whether it would take up Trump\u2019s appeal of the $5 million verdict.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s personal defense attorneys have previously brought up Carroll\u2019s statement during the deposition \u2014 and how the trial judge handled the evidence around the payment of her legal fees \u2014 as a potential reason to overturn the verdict.<\/p>\n

But a panel of federal appeals judges ruled in 2024 that it was plausible that she had simply forgotten about the funding when she testified \u2014 and had not intended to mislead the defense. According to court records, Carroll\u2019s legal team said they would be paid on contingency, meaning her attorneys would only get paid if and when she prevailed before a jury or reached a monetary settlement.<\/p>\n

In 2020, her defense team had informed her that they secured outside funding for some legal fees, according to the court records. Carrol said that she did not speak with her counsel again about this until 2023 and that when she testified in 2022, she had forgotten about it, according to court records.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no evidence to suggest that Ms. Carroll was personally involved in securing the funding, interacted with the funder, received an invoice showing the arrangement before or after her counsel received the outside funding, or had discussed the arrangement with anyone between learning of it in September 2020 and being deposed in October 2022,\u201d the panel of appeals court judges found.<\/p>\n

Todd Blanche, now the acting attorney general, was part of Trump\u2019s legal team that brought the appeal of the Carroll verdict. He is recused from the investigation into the nonprofit, according to one of the people familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n

In May 2023, jurors determined that Carroll had sufficiently proved<\/a> she was sexually abused in a dressing room at the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the mid-1990s after a chance encounter with Trump. The jury also found that Trump defamed Carroll years later on social media, after she publicly accused him of rape.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s public disdain for Carroll started soon after she first publicly alleged \u2014 in a 2019 magazine excerpt from her memoir \u2014 that he had sexually assaulted her decades earlier. Trump, who was president at the time of the accusation, called her a liar, claimed she was a complete stranger to him and suggested he could not have assaulted her because he found her unattractive.<\/p>\n

Jurors in a different civil case concluded that Trump defamed Carroll and owed her more than $83 million<\/a>.<\/p>

Read more Tigers place closer Kenley Jansen on the 15-day injured list with pelvic inflammation<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The investigation centers on statements Carroll made during a deposition in her civil lawsuit against President Donald Trump, in which a jury found that he had sexually assaulted and defamed her.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1942,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nDOJ probes Democratic-allied nonprofit that helped pay E. 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