Top federal prosecutor in Chicago denies investigation into E. Jean
Carroll, disputing media reports
[May 29, 2026]
By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER and ERIC TUCKER
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.
The Associated Press and other news organizations, citing anonymous
sources, reported that the federal prosecutors’ office in Chicago had
opened an investigation into Carroll examining possible perjury
allegations.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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E. Jean Carroll exits the New York Federal Court after former
President Donald Trump appeared in court, Sept. 6, 2024, in New
York. (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File)
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.
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.
____
Associated Press reporter Larry Neumeister in New York contributed
to this report.
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