The US Justice Department has launched a probe into whether E Jean Carroll, a writer and journalist, made false statements during civil lawsuits against Donald Trump.
The investigation, being handled by the US Attorney's Office in Chicago, is the latest in a string of Trump-era Justice Department actions targeting perceived political opponents.
Carroll alleged that Trump sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s, a claim Trump has repeatedly denied.
A jury held Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll in 2023 and ordered him to pay $5 million in damages, while another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in defamation damages a year later.
