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The complete legal timeline of E. Jean Carroll's lawsuits against Donald Trump, including the Carroll I defamation case, Carroll II sexual abuse and defamation case, Westfall Act battles, and the 2026 DOJ criminal investigation into Carroll. Covers 2019-2026.
Trump issues a public statement denying Carroll's allegation that he sexually assaulted her in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s. He calls her claims false, says she is "not his type," and accuses her of lying to promote her book. The statement is issued through official White House channels.
Carroll files a defamation lawsuit in New York state court against Trump, seeking damages for his public denials of her sexual assault allegation. The suit cites three defamatory statements Trump made after her memoir excerpt was published in June 2019.
The Department of Justice, under Attorney General William Barr, intervenes in Carroll I and certifies that Trump acted within the scope of his employment when making the disputed statements. DOJ seeks to substitute the United States as defendant under the Westfall Act, which would effectively end the case since the federal government cannot be sued for defamation.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejects the Justice Department's motion to substitute the United States as defendant in Carroll I. Kaplan rules that Trump's statements about Carroll were not made within the scope of his employment as president, denying the Westfall Act certification.
In a videotaped deposition, Carroll tells Trump attorney Alina Habba that she is not receiving outside funding for her lawsuit against Trump. She states her legal representation is on a contingency basis, meaning her attorneys only get paid if she wins the case.
Two weeks before trial, Carroll's attorney Roberta Kaplan informs Judge Lewis Kaplan and Trump's lawyers that a nonprofit called American Future Republic, primarily backed by billionaire LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, has paid some of Carroll's legal fees and expenses. Hoffman is a major Democratic donor.
Judge Lewis Kaplan allows Trump's attorneys to question Carroll in a second deposition about Hoffman's funding but rules that Carroll's original deposition answer was accurate as she understood it at the time. Kaplan determines there is "virtually nothing there in terms of credibility" and blocks Trump's lawyers from asking about Hoffman's funding during trial.
A federal jury in New York found Donald Trump liable on May 9, 2023 for sexual abuse and defamation against author E. Jean Carroll, awarding $5 million in damages. Judge Lewis Kaplan presided; the jury found Trump sexually abused Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room in the mid-1990s but did not find rape by the statute's definition. Trump attended a CNN town hall the same evening and repeated defamatory statements about Carroll, setting up the second defamation verdict.
TopicA federal jury awarded E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in defamation damages against Donald Trump on January 26, 2024 — the largest individual defamation verdict against a sitting or former U.S. president. Judge Lewis Kaplan presided; the jury found Trump's social media attacks on Carroll's credibility after the May 2023 verdict constituted further defamation. Trump did not attend the trial and continued attacking Carroll publicly during proceedings. The judgment became the target of two parallel DOJ gambits after Trump's return to office in 2025.
TopicThe Justice Department, now under Trump's second term, files a motion with the Second Circuit asking to substitute the United States as defendant in Carroll I under the Westfall Act. DOJ argues that Trump acted in his official capacity as president when making the disputed statements about Carroll.
The Supreme Court will consider at their Feb. 20, 2026 conference whether to hear President Trump's appeal of the $5 million verdict against him in E. Jean Carroll's civil lawsuit. Trump calls the lawsuit "facially implausible" and "politically motivated," while Carroll urges the court to deny review, arguing the verdict would stand regardless of their ruling. The case stems from Carroll's allegations that Trump sexually abused her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1996 and then defamed her when she went public with the allegations in her 2019 memoir.
TopicThe DOJ opened a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll on May 27, 2026, examining whether she committed perjury in a 2022 deposition when she said she had received no outside legal funding. The probe is run by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Illinois; it follows disclosure that Reid Hoffman paid some of Carroll's legal expenses. The investigation runs parallel to a DOJ Westfall Act motion to void Carroll's $83.3 million defamation judgment against Trump.
TopicOn May 27, 2026, the Justice Department opened a criminal perjury investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the 82-year-old journalist who won two major civil lawsuits against Donald Trump. The investigation, first reported in a [CNN exclusive report](https://www.cnn.com/2026/05/27/politics/exclusive-justice-department-launched-e-jean-carroll-investigation), focuses on Carroll's 2022 deposition where she testified that no one else was paying her legal fees. The probe is being run by U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros in Chicago, where the nonprofit American Future Republic—which paid her law firm $7 million using LinkedIn co-founder [Reid Hoffman's backing](https://fortune.com/2023/04/14/reid-hoffman-donald-trump-rape-trial-e-jean-carroll-funding-lawsuit/)—is based. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche recused himself because he previously represented Trump in the Carroll appeals, leaving the case to other political appointees. At the same time, the Justice Department is actively trying to throw out Carroll's civil wins entirely. In early May 2026, the DOJ's civil division asked the Supreme Court to step in and apply the Westfall Act, a move that [defends Trump's position](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/may/6/doj-wants-federal-government-not-trump-hook-833m-verdict-e-jean/) by substituting the U.S. government as the defendant—which would immediately wipe out the $83.3 million defamation judgment. This comes after the Second Circuit [denied en banc](https://www.courthousenews.com/no-en-banc-in-trump-appeals-of-e-jean-carroll-verdict-83-million-judgment/) rehearing on April 29, 2026, ruling that Trump had waited too long to raise this defense. Meanwhile, Trump's appeal of the separate $5 million sexual abuse judgment has been stuck in a [conference delay agenda](https://www.scotusblog.com/2026/05/court-puts-off-deciding-whether-to-consider-5-million-verdict-against-trump-yet-again/) at the Supreme Court for 11 straight sessions.
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