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DOJ opens criminal probe into E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of sexual assault

Nbcwashington · · 594 words · By Gabe Gutierrez; Kyla Guilfoil; Ryan J Reilly; Megan Lebowitz; NBC News
Judicial Weaponization Legal Dispute between Trump and Carroll
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What to know about Judicial Weaponization

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether E.

Claims checked 13
Techniques found 1
Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether E.

Why it matters

Jean Carroll committed perjury in testimony during her lawsuits tied to sexual abuse allegations against President Donald Trump, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

Common ground

Carroll, a former magazine writer, accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/national-international/justice-department-ope…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 90% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5
schedule Pending 3
cancel Disputed 2
verified Verified 1
help Insufficient Evidence 1
verified Verified By Reference 1
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Claim 1: “She was awarded $5 million in damages in 2023 by a jury that found Trump liable for sexually abusing her.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources, including Nypost and Wikipedia, confirm that a jury awarded Carroll $5 million in 2023 after finding Trump liable for sexual abuse.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ask E. Jean is a 2025 American documentary film, directed and produced by Ivy Meeropol. It follows the life and career of E. Jean Carroll and her legal battles against Donald Trump. It had its world …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ask_E._Jean_(film)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Elizabeth Jean Carroll (born December 12, 1943) is an American journalist, author, and advice columnist. Her "Ask E. Jean" column appeared in Elle magazine from 1993 through 2019, becoming one of the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jean_Carroll
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump is the name of two related civil lawsuits by American author E. Jean Carroll against United States President Donald Trump. The two suits resulted in a total of $88.3…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jean_Carroll_v._Donald_J._T…
+ 2 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 2: “That office is run by Andrew S. Boutros, a Trump appointee”
VERIFIED
Web search results confirm Andrew S. Boutros is the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois and was appointed by Trump (via Pam Bondi).
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web search NEUTRAL — Feb 9, 2026 · Andrew S. Boutros took the Oath of Office as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois on April 7, 2025, after a 120-day ...
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/meet-us-attorney
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web search NEUTRAL — 1 day ago · U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Andrew S. Boutros, was appointed in 2025 by Trump's then-Attorney General Pam Bondi ...
https://www.facebook.com/wttwnews/posts/more-than-100-former…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 29, 2026 · Andrew S. Boutros, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, is said to be overseeing the criminal investigation.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/29/us/chicago-prosecutor-and…
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Claim 3: “CNN first reported on the investigation into Carroll.”
CORROBORATED
The Guardian and other web search results explicitly state that CNN was the first to report on the DOJ investigation into Carroll.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — As of October 2024, since the 1970s, at least 28 women have publicly accused Donald Trump of various acts of sexual misconduct, including rape, sex with minors, sexual assault, physical abuse, kissing…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_sexual_misconduct…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Elizabeth Jean Carroll (born December 12, 1943) is an American journalist, author, and advice columnist. Her "Ask E. Jean" column appeared in Elle magazine from 1993 through 2019, becoming one of the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jean_Carroll
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump is the name of two related civil lawsuits by American author E. Jean Carroll against United States President Donald Trump. The two suits resulted in a total of $88.3…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jean_Carroll_v._Donald_J._T…
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 4: “Earlier this month, a federal appeals court decided that Trump did not need to pay the money until the Supreme Court decides whether it would hear the case.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
schedule
Claim 5: “She was awarded $5 million in damages in 2023 after a jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming her, but not for alleged rape.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 6: “The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into whether E. Jean Carroll committed perjury in testimony during her lawsuits tied to sexual abuse allegations against President Donald Trump”
DISPUTED
While multiple web search results report that the DOJ launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll for potential perjury, other web search results explicitly state that the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois denies opening such an investigation.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In February 2025, seven U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors resigned in response to orders from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to dismiss federal criminal corruption charges against New Y…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_U.S._Department_of_Justic…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, sometimes called Main Justice, is the headquarters of the United States Department of Justice. It houses Department of Justice offices, including …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_F._Kennedy_Department_o…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is an executive department of the United States federal government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justic…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Ju…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 7: “Last month, a full federal appeals court rejected Trump’s push for it to rehear his appeal of the defamation case after a panel of three of the court’s judges initially rejected Trump’s appeal last year.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results to confirm or deny whether a full federal appeals court recently rejected Trump's push to rehear the defamation case.
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Claim 8: “The following year, Carroll won an $83 million civil judgment in a defamation case.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources, including Wikipedia and news reports, confirm that Carroll won an $83 million (or $83.3 million) civil judgment in a defamation case in 2024.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Ask E. Jean is a 2025 American documentary film, directed and produced by Ivy Meeropol. It follows the life and career of E. Jean Carroll and her legal battles against Donald Trump. It had its world …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ask_E._Jean_(film)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Elizabeth Jean Carroll (born December 12, 1943) is an American journalist, author, and advice columnist. Her "Ask E. Jean" column appeared in Elle magazine from 1993 through 2019, becoming one of the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jean_Carroll
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump is the name of two related civil lawsuits by American author E. Jean Carroll against United States President Donald Trump. The two suits resulted in a total of $88.3…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jean_Carroll_v._Donald_J._T…
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 9: “Carroll, a former magazine writer, accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
Wikipedia and multiple news sources confirm that E. Jean Carroll accused Donald Trump of sexually assaulting her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Elizabeth Jean Carroll (born December 12, 1943) is an American journalist, author, and advice columnist. Her "Ask E. Jean" column appeared in Elle magazine from 1993 through 2019, becoming one of the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jean_Carroll
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — As of October 2024, since the 1970s, at least 28 women have publicly accused Donald Trump of various acts of sexual misconduct, including rape, sex with minors, sexual assault, physical abuse, kissing…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_sexual_misconduct…
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump is the name of two related civil lawsuits by American author E. Jean Carroll against United States President Donald Trump. The two suits resulted in a total of $88.3…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jean_Carroll_v._Donald_J._T…
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 10: “the department to prosecute former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 11: “Carroll had initially testified in 2022 that no one else had helped pay the fees, but it was later disclosed that some funding was provided in 2020 by a nonprofit backed by Democratic donor Reid Hoffman.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm that Carroll testified in 2022 she had no outside help, but it was later disclosed that a nonprofit backed by Reid Hoffman provided funding in 2020.
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web search NEUTRAL — E. Jean Carroll’s legal team publicly disclosed that outside funds from Reid Hoffman’s nonprofit, American Future Republic, were used to cover some litigation costs in her lawsuits against Donald Trum…
https://factually.co/fact-checks/justice/e-jean-carroll-paym…
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web search NEUTRAL — Carroll testified in 2022 that no one else was paying her legal fees. Her lawyers later disclosed that some expenses were funded by American Future Republic. The funding issue came out before trial, a…
https://www.ms.now/opinion/reid-hoffman-e-jean-carroll-trump…
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web search NEUTRAL — Reid Hoffman posted on X in response to reports of a DOJ probe tied to E. Jean Carroll's lawsuits, calling the scrutiny "absurdly false."
https://www.businessinsider.com/reid-hoffman-responds-x-doj-…
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Claim 12: “The investigation... is being run out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois”
DISPUTED
Some sources claim the investigation is being run out of the Northern District of Illinois, but another source explicitly states that the US attorney for that district denies opening such an investigation.
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web search NEUTRAL — May 27, 2026 ... ... investigation into E. Jean Carroll ... The US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois denies opening an investigation into Carroll.
https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/27/politics/exclusive-justice-de…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 29, 2026 ... ... office opened an investigation into E Jean Carroll ... Andrew Boutros, the US attorney for the Northern District of Illinois ...
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clyp77jd407o
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web search NEUTRAL — May 31, 2026 ... RASCOE: The office in question here in Chicago is led by U.S. attorney Andrew Boutros. It just dropped all the remaining charges in a ...
https://www.npr.org/2026/05/31/nx-s1-5838024/former-doj-offi…
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Claim 13: “The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals weighed in on the issue in 2024, finding that Carroll was not involved in the outside funding, did not know the details of it, and most likely had simply forgotten about it”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results report that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found Carroll was not involved in the outside funding and likely forgot about it.
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web search NEUTRAL — Trump reiterated in his deposition that he did not know Carroll before she ... On April 26, Carroll testified; she said she was unaware if any ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Jean_Carroll_v._Donald_J._T…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 29, 2026 ... The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a Dec. 30, 2024 ... Such an ignorant thing to say. Shame on you. Brent • 1 week ago. It ...
https://news.wttw.com/2026/05/28/justice-department-s-invest…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 28, 2026 ... ... Carroll was not involved in the outside funding, did not know the details of it, and most likely had simply forgotten about it in the years ...
https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/national-international/j…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.