US justice department launches criminal investigation into Trump accuser E Jean Carroll, reports say

The case centres on whether the former columnist lied about the funding she received for her civil lawsuit against the US president. US justice department launches criminal investigation into Trump accuser E Jean Carroll, reports say Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. E. Jean Carroll exits the New York Federal Court after President Donald Trump appeared in court, Sept. 6, 2024, in New York. E Jean Carroll pictured outside the Court of Appeals in New York in 2024 A head and shoulders portrait of Carroll wearing sunglasses while leaving the Court of Appeals in New York in 2024, with a bokeh background The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a criminal investigation into writer E Jean Carroll, who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault, CBS News, the BBC's US partner, has reported. The investigation is looking into whether Carroll committed perjury in connection with civil cases she brought against Trump, the news outlet quotes sources as saying. Carroll, a former magazine columnist, accused Trump of sexual assault and defamation, and successfully sued him in two cases. Both judgements were upheld on appeal, but Trump has since asked the Supreme Court to overturn the first of them. He has denied the accusations. The BBC has contacted the DOJ and Carroll's lawyer for comment. In 2023, a jury found Trump liable for sexual assault. He was also found liable for defamation for comments he made the previous year in a post on Truth Social. In that post, he denied Carroll's claim that she had been attacked by him in the mid-1990s in a New York department store dressing room. A second lawsuit in 2024 found Trump again liable for defamation in connection with comments he made about Carroll in 2019, in which he accused her of making up the claims against him to sell a book. Trump has appealed to the US Supreme Court to overturn the first judgement, for which he was ordered to pay $5m (£3.7m) to Carroll. He has also vowed to do the same with the other case, in which Carroll was awarded $83m. The new criminal case is looking into whether Carroll lied when she said in a 2022 deposition that she received no outside funding for her civil lawsuit against Trump, a source told CBS. It was revealed in legal papers first filed by Trump's lawyers in 2023 that the co-founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman, had helped to pay for some of Carroll's legal fees and expenses. The issue was brought up during the case's appeal, and the court found that Carroll had "plausibly represented" in her deposition "that she had forgotten about the limited outside funding counsel obtained". The "additional discovery... showed that Ms Carroll simply was not involved in the matter of who was or was not funding her litigation costs," the US Court of Appeals for the Second District continued in a 2024 ruling. The new investigation is being led by the US Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, one source told CBS. CNN, which first reported the story, reported that while Carroll's deposition took place in New York, one of the individuals who helped cover some of Carroll's legal fees, Hoffman, has a non-profit organisation based in Chicago. The BBC has also approached Hoffman's non-profit for comment. Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche, who personally represented Trump in the appeal cases against Carroll, is recused from the case, a source told CBS. Since returning to office last year, Trump has repeatedly called on the DOJ to prosecute a range of his adversaries. Jean Carroll at a Manhattan federal court at the conclusion of her defamation suit against Donald Trump on 26 January, 2024 in New York City Trump asks Supreme Court to overturn E Jean Carroll verdict Trump loses bid for appeals court to reconsider $5m loss to E Jean Carroll E Jean Carroll photographed outside court Trump claims E Jean Carroll 'fabricated' sex assault The hostilities come during a fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran, and protracted negotiations to end the three-month war. The former US first lady told CBS News that she was frightened by Joe Biden's performance against Donald Trump. Agents also found about $2m in cash and 35 luxury watches in the home of David Rush, who court filings say had top secret clearance. The strikes come despite a ceasefire between Tehran and Washington as the two countries hold peace talks. The longtime Google employee was charged in New York for allegedly breaking insider trading laws. New York and New Jersey are looking into the association after fans have reportedly been "misled" over ticket sales and seat locations. The BBC's Ros Atkins and BBC Verify sifted through thousands of the president's posts. The US president says he believes Iran wants to reach a deal but there is still no agreement on its terms.