A jury determined that Donald Trump was responsible for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll. Another jury decided he must pay her $83 million for calling her a liar and defaming her. The Supreme Court has postponed making a decision on his appeal twelve times.
In response, his Justice Department has started a criminal investigation into her.
CNN reports that the DOJ is looking into whether Carroll, who is now 82, lied under oath in her 2022 deposition when she claimed she received no outside funding for her lawsuit. This was before it came out that billionaire Reid Hoffman had covered some of her legal costs through a nonprofit. The trial judge looked into this matter at the time, found that Carroll was credible, and stopped Trump’s lawyers from pursuing it further.
Clearly, this was not the outcome Trump wanted.
So, Todd Blanche, who is Trump’s personal criminal defense attorney and is now in charge of the Justice Department, sent the investigation to federal prosecutors in Chicago. The investigation ended up in Chicago instead of New York, where the deposition took place, because Hoffman’s nonprofit is located there.
Blanche has stepped back from this specific case because he had previously worked on Trump’s appeals related to Carroll.
However, the rest of the department he oversees is still pushing the case forward for Trump.
This is the same Justice Department that dismissed charges against a billionaire accused of bribing Indian officials after his lawyer proposed a $10 billion investment.
It’s also the same department that set up a $1.776 billion fund for those involved in the January 6th riots. Additionally, it initiated a spiteful prosecution of James Comey that seasoned lawyers refused to handle.
Carroll’s lawyers stated she never met or spoke with anyone from Hoffman’s nonprofit.
The trial judge found no reason to doubt her credibility. The case went on, and Trump lost twice by large margins in front of two different juries.
None of this seems to matter to the current administration.
What is important is that E. Jean Carroll won against Donald Trump in court, and Trump does not forget such defeats. This is not about law enforcement; it feels more like retaliation using the power of the law.
The Supreme Court has now postponed Trump’s appeal in the Carroll case twelve times, and his DOJ is attempting to criminalize her for being victorious.
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