Fri 29 May 2026 at 3:51pmFri 29 May 2026 at 3:51pmThe federal prosecutor said a criminal investigation has never been opened into E Jean Carroll. (AP: Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/ File)In short:US Attorney Andrew Boutros has denied his office has launched a criminal investigation into E Jean Carroll, the writer who accused US President Donald Trump of raping her in the mid-1990s.Chicago's top federal prosecutor said a criminal investigation has not opened up and has never opened up into into E Jean Carroll.What's next?Carroll's lawyer, Robbie Kaplan has not responded to requests for comment.The top federal prosecutor in Chicago has denied that his office has launched a criminal investigation into E Jean Carroll, the writer who accused US President Donald Trump of raping her in the mid-1990s."The Chicago US Attorney's Office can confirm that it has not opened and has never opened a criminal investigation into E Jean Carroll," US Attorney Andrew Boutros said in a statement on Thursday.Mr Boutros's statement came after a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday, local time, that the Justice Department had begun an investigation, led by the US Attorney's Office in Chicago, into whether Carroll committed perjury in testimony involving two civil lawsuits that she won against Mr Trump.Carroll's lawyer, Robbie Kaplan, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.The source, who requested anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation, said the probe involved testimony in Carroll's successful cases, decided in 2023 and 2024, alleging Mr Trump sexually abused her in a New York department store and defamed her by saying she was lying.Donald Trump has denied all wrongdoing and is still in legal battles with E Jean Carroll. (Reuters: Jane Rosenberg )The launch of a probe may not necessarily result in charges being brought against Carroll.CNN first reported the investigation, which was also reported by The New York Times.Since last year, Mr Trump's Justice Department has pursued a slew of investigations against the president's antagonists and has brought criminal charges in some cases.The source said the prosecutor's move is based on a 2022 deposition statement by the former Elle magazine columnist that she received no outside funding for her lawsuit. Her lawyers later revealed that Reid Hoffman, the billionaire co-founder of LinkedIn, had paid some of her legal bills.An appeals court, however, decided in 2024 that: "Ms. Carroll plausibly represented that she had forgotten about the limited outside funding counsel obtained in September 2020 when this question was first posed to her in 2022, and the additional discovery did not indicate otherwise."A jury found in May 2023 that Mr Trump had sexually assaulted Carroll, and defamed her by lying, but did not rape her. Another jury in January 2024 found that he had defamed her and ordered him to pay $US83.3 million ($116.2 million) in damages.Mr Trump has denied all wrongdoing and is still in legal battles with Carroll.Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has moved quickly to carry out Mr Trump's demands since taking over from his predecessor Pam Bondi, has been recused from the department's investigation as he worked as one of Mr Trump's personal attorneys on the Carroll appeals, the source added.Reuters