The Department of Justice has opened a criminal investigation into author and former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, who accused President Donald Trump of rape in a Bergdorf Goodman department store dressing room at an unspecified time in the 1990s. She was awarded a large settlement after a jury found Trump liable for battery in a civil trial, with jurors unanimously agreeing that Trump had “sexually abused” Carroll.

Carroll, who wrote of the encounter with Trump in her memoir prior to bringing the civil suit, is under investigation over whether or not she committed perjury in her two suits against Trump. The first was over the alleged sexual assault and the second was for defamation after Trump denied the sexual assault allegations in 2019.

CNN reported the exclusive, citing “multiple sources familiar with the matter.” The investigation into alleged perjury is based on Carroll’s 2022 deposition in which she stated that she was not financial aided in pursuing her civil case against Trump. Carroll made the statement in a taped deposition, telling Trump’s attorney Alina Habba that she was solely responsible for her legal fees.

Two weeks before the trial, Carroll’s attorneys “revealed that billionaire Reid Hoffman had paid some legal fees and expenses,” CNN reported. Habba told the court that Carroll “conspired to conceal the truth for nearly six months.” Carroll was again questioned by Trump’s attorneys, but Judge Lewis Kaplan, presiding over the case, didn’t have an issue with the obfuscation or the funding.

While the case is being taken up by the DOJ, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is not working on it as he was involved in the civil suits as Trump’s personal attorney. Others in the deputy attorney general’s office are working on it along with federal prosecutors in Chicago, where Hoffman’s non-profit Lever for Change is based.

In May, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit agreed that Trump could continue delaying payment of the $83.3 million defamation suit a previous court had awarded her. The court said that Trump could continue his appeals but also required him to increase his bond by an additional $7.46 million, bringing it up to nearly $100 million.

“We are pleased that the Second Circuit conditioned the stay on President Trump posting a bond of nearly $100 million — increasing the $91,630,000 bond he originally posted by another $7,462,492.74 to account for the accruing post-judgment interest,” Carroll’s attorney Roberta Kaplan said in a statement.

Trump has asked the Supreme Court to review the case but they have as yet declined to hear the case. It was later revealed that anti-Trump pundit George Conway encouraged Carroll to publicize the alleged incident from her memoir and bring legal action against Trump. In 2023, Carroll said that it was after speaking to Conway at a party that she sought suit against Trump.