On Wednesday, May 27, 2026, CNN reported that the Department of Justice had opened a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the 82-year-old former magazine columnist who has, in the past three years, twice prevailed against Donald Trump in federal civil court. The first verdict, in May 2023, found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation and awarded her five million dollars. The second, in January 2024, awarded her an additional $83.3 million in damages for defamatory statements he made about her in 2019. The Second Circuit upheld the judgment. Trump petitioned the Supreme Court in November 2025 to set it aside, and the petition remains pending. While that appeal is being briefed, his Justice Department is now criminally investigating the woman who won the underlying suits.
