<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into a woman found by a jury to have been </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/donald-trump" rel="" target="" title="raped by Donald Trump"><span>raped by Donald Trump</span></a><span>, CNN reports.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The investigation is centred on whether </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-rape-trial-e-jean-carroll-supreme-court-appeal-usa-news/e98bf417-10fb-4555-a5bc-c59862ecf5cb" rel="" target="" title="E Jean Carroll"><span>E Jean Carroll</span></a><span> committed perjury while testifying against Trump.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Carroll sued Trump twice, once for raping her in a New York department store, and again for defaming her.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/jill-biden-joe-biden-debate-stroke-donald-trump-presidential-election-2024-usa-news/2e702b78-edd8-4b8d-8595-4ca2d99daf0a"><strong><span>'Oh, my God, he's having a stroke': Jill Biden reveals debate fears</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But prosecutors in the Trump administration believe she lied on the stand when she testified she had received no outside funding in her lawsuits.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It was later revealed billionaire Reid Hoffman paid some of her legal fees.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hoffman made his fortune as the co-founder of social media site LinkedIn.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/e-jean-carroll-criminal-investigation-rape-trial-donald-trump-rapist-usa-politics-news/960c7be4-81dc-4559-b9fc-35967c1ca619" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Former federal prosecutor Joyce White Vance brushed off the threat of the investigation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There is not a grand jury in America that will indict E Jean Carroll," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The case has been opened by prosecutors in Chicago, where Hoffman's non-profit is based.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-international-flights-direct-from-australia-markwayne-mullin-donald-trump-los-angeles-san-francisco/e20bbfd8-cb36-49e5-881d-da521cf48745"><strong><span>Trump plan would stop Australians flying to most popular US destinations</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Trump has been ordered to pay Carroll $115 million after a New York jury found that he raped her in the mid-1990s.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-accuser-e-jean-carroll-files-new-lawsuit-in-new-york-over-alleged-1990s-rape/a48d1d7d-5f2a-47ff-ba38-9cdc918dc046"><span>A jury awarded Carroll the immense payout</span></a><span> after she successfully sued him for defamation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Trump's lawyers have repeatedly asked the Supreme Court to intervene so he wouldn't have to pay her.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>His lawyers argue that because his remarks about her were made when he was president, he was protected by presidential immunity.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Carroll's defamation argument hinged on the president's accusation that she wasn't telling the truth when she came forward with her rape allegation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Because the statute of limitations for a sexual assault charge had passed, </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/trump-rape-accusation-e-jean-carroll-two-women-sexual-assault-us-politics-news/8224be62-608b-458e-a08c-f74e570693f7"><span>Carroll sued him in civil court and won</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/ken-paxton-john-cornyn-texas-primary-senate-election-results-james-talarico-us-politics-news/30df77e4-6968-41dd-bdf7-7abe24e83ea3"><strong><span>Trump's handpicked candidate may cost his party their most important state</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In 2019, Trump denied ever knowing Carroll and said she "wasn't his type".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But when presented with a photograph of Trump speaking with Carroll, he </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-e-jean-carroll-rape-defamation-lawsuit-marla-maples-us-politics-news/71db0e03-ad35-4278-9481-347bd53c280f"><span>mistook her as his former wife Marla Maples</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A jury found she was telling the truth when she alleged Trump raped her in the dressing room of a New York department store. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>Support is available from the</span></strong><span> </span><strong><span>National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service</span></strong><span> </span><strong><span>at</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.1800respect.org.au/" title="https://www.1800respect.org.au/"><strong><span>1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)</span></strong></a><strong><span>.</span></strong></div></div>