The U.S. Department of Justice has reportedly opened an investigation into E. Jean Carroll (pictured above), who sued President Donald Trump over her claim he sexually abused her in a department store dressing room sometime during the 1990s, over possible perjury committed during a deposition in 2022, when Carroll claimed she received no outside compensation for her litigation.
First revealed by CNN as an exclusive on Wednesday night, Reuters corroborated the reporting on Thursday, and additionally unearthed that the investigation is being conducted in the office of U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros in the Northern District of Illinois, who was appointed in April 2025.
It was additionally reported by ABC News that Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche has recused himself from the investigation. Blanche represented Trump in Carroll’s defamation lawsuit.
The potential for perjury reportedly relates to Carroll’s claim in her 2022 deposition by Trump’s legal team that she received no financial support, despite public records revealing the American Future Republic, a nonprofit organization established by LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic mega donor Reid Hoffman (pictured here), awarded a $7 million grant to Kaplan Hecker & Fink, the law firm which represented Carroll in both her lawsuits against Trump.
Reid Hoffman
Trump’s legal team did not learn Carroll’s litigation was funded by Hoffman until April 2023, when her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, sent the president’s attorneys a letter informing them the former advice columnist “recollected additional information” about her financial backer when preparing for trial. Reporters learned of the development shortly after.
According to the Form 990 filed with the IRS by Hoffman’s group, the $7 million grant was awarded for the specific purpose of “public interest litigation funding.”
With the financial backing from Hoffman’s nonprofit, a jury in a New York civil trial found Trump liable for “sexual abuse” and defamation, awarding Carroll $5 million. When Trump continued to maintain his innocence, and publicly derided her claims against him, a second jury awarded Carroll an additional $83.3 million in damages. The president has continued to appeal both decisions, and is currently awaiting review by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kaplan left the law firm in 2024, years after she reportedly drew ire from activists supporting women claiming to be victims of abuse for consulting with disgraced New York Governor Andrew Cuomo when he faced allegations of workplace harassment from women. In an interview, she cited a desire to work in a smaller firm.
Despite the departure of the high profile lawyer, the firm has remained a major political force into the second Trump administration.
Rebranded as Hecker Fink, its clients include former President Joe Biden, whose personal lawyer works for the firm.
Hecker Fink additionally represents Kilmar Abrego Garcia, and last week successfully obtained a dismissal from Obama-appointed U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw, who determined the DOJ failed to rebut the presumption of vindictiveness in their human smuggling case against the citizen of El Salvador. The DOJ has promised to appeal.
On its website, Hecker Fink states the firm maintains “a profound and substantial commitment in lawyering in the public interest,” and that its legal arguments, “have been cited by [U.S. Supreme Court] Justices Sotomayor, Jackson, and Ginsburg.”
Its legal accomplishments include a legal settlement with Florida over its so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, and the first lawsuit the organizers of the Unite the Right rally that occurred in Charlottesville in 2017.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “E. Jean Carroll” by CNN.
