The US opened an investigation against the woman who complained that Trump sexually assaulted her

The US Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation against E. Jean Carroll, the former media woman who accused the President of the United States Donald Trump of sexual assault and was awarded huge compensation, it was reported in the major media outlets in the US. The investigation comes as part of an extensive revenge campaign by the US Department of Justice against opponents marked by Trump, a campaign that included a long series of legal proceedings against figures who had previously clashed with the president.

According to reports, the investigation is examining whether Carol lied in testimony related to two civil lawsuits she filed against the president – one in which she claimed that Trump sexually assaulted her in a store in New York in the 1990s, and a second lawsuit for defamation, after Trump consistently denied the assault, claiming she made up the story to promote sales of a book.

The investigation focuses on a statement made by the 82-year-old Carroll in a deposition in 2022, in which Carroll said she received no outside funding for her lawsuit against Trump. It was later revealed that billionaire Reid Hoffman paid some of her expenses and attorneys’ fees. At the start of the trial, the judge stated that he did not see a problem with Carroll’s credibility and prevented the parties from questioning her about the funding from Hoffman.

Carol won a civil judgment for $5 million, and the court ruled that Trump had sexually assaulted and defamed her. Last November, the president asked the Supreme Court to overturn the decision. In addition, she won an 83 million dollar verdict in a defamation case against Trump, and the president announced that he would appeal this verdict as well.

The investigation comes as part of an extensive revenge campaign promoted by the president against his opponents and figures who have confronted him in the past. According to reports in the US, he fired former Attorney General Pam Bondi because she was unable to advance his retaliation case to the extent he wanted, and replaced her with Todd Blanche, an aggressive prosecutor who had previously been the president’s personal attorney.

Along with Carroll, the Justice Department has launched proceedings against a series of figures Trump has labeled hostile, including former FBI Director James Comey and former New York State Attorney General Letisha James. The investigation against Carroll was opened by a federal prosecutor appointed by Trump.