Headlines suggesting President Donald Trump’s Justice Department was targeting E. Jean Carroll for a perjury investigation created a mess for the administration last week.It was far from the first time the advice columnist and rape accuser caused a mess for Trump. Justice Department officials, however, helped turn this particular dust-up into a confusing reminder of the circus that surrounded Carroll’s legal crusade against the president, which began in 2019.For nearly 24 hours after CNN reported on Wednesday that Carroll was the target of a criminal investigation, the DOJ did not correct the record and even appeared to give some media outlets the impression that the original story was somewhat accurate. The reports immediately sparked criticism from Democrats and Trump critics, who argued the DOJ was targeting one of the president’s most prominent accusers. By Thursday evening, however, the top prosecutor in northern Illinois, where the case was reportedly being built, took the rare step of publicly denying that Carroll was under investigation.
Individuals who spoke to the media about the inquiry may have received subpoenas or other requests from investigators. Those developments could have created the impression among witnesses or subpoena targets that Carroll herself was the target of the investigation, even though the Chicago division is actually focused on the entity connected to the funding of the litigation.
