A criminal investigation of writer E. Jean Carroll is being conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice to establish whether Carroll lied on oath in civil cases filed against Donald Trump. The focus of this investigation lies on the writer's 2022 deposition, during which she told the court that she had not obtained any funds from external sources for paying for her legal expenses, even though it became evident later that LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman had contributed money toward her case.

Although an appeals court found that Carroll simply forgot about these external contributions, which were arranged by her attorneys, the investigation will establish whether the lie was told deliberately. The investigation is being run by the Northern District of Illinois since some of these contributions were made by a non-profit organization located in Chicago. It should be noted that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is not involved in the investigation since he was Trump's attorney in these cases.