In a development that has captured the attention of both legal observers and the public, federal prosecutors have opened a criminal inquiry into former New York magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll, who has long been at the center of a high‑profile dispute with former President Donald J. Trump.
Background of the Accusations
Carroll first brought her allegations to light in 2019, when she filed a civil lawsuit against Trump in a Manhattan court. She claimed that the former president had sexually assaulted her in the 1990s while she was working as a junior copy editor at a New York City department store. According to Carroll, the encounter took place in a hallway near a display of handbags,









