The Story Changed. Here's What Actually Happened.

The dominant media narrative has shifted. A criminal probe into E. Jean Carroll for alleged perjury is not the focus of a DOJ investigation, according to the prosecutor overseeing it.

Andrew Boutros, the Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, posted publicly on X Thursday evening: "The Chicago U.S. Attorney's Office can confirm that it has not opened — and has never opened — a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll. Any claim to the contrary is categorically false."

The prosecutor running this investigation says Carroll is NOT the criminal target.

So Who Is the Target?

According to reporting from The Washington Post and NBC News, the DOJ probe is focused on American Future Republic, a Chicago-based nonprofit backed by billionaire Democratic donor Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn.

The nonprofit helped fund Carroll's legal bills. That's the thread investigators are pulling.

The allegations under investigation, per NBC News, include potential money laundering, obstruction, and conspiracy. A possible perjury charge related to Carroll's testimony is also being examined — but NBC News reports it is not the main focus.

The Guardian confirmed a source familiar with the investigation said Carroll is not the subject. The probe is centered on Hoffman's entity.

The Numbers Behind the Cases

This involves substantial stakes. Carroll won $5 million in damages in 2023 against Trump after a jury found him liable for sexual abuse. She won a second judgment of $83.3 million in a 2024 defamation case. Trump has denied all allegations and says he doesn't know Carroll.

Trump is currently seeking Supreme Court intervention in both cases, according to NBC News.

Meanwhile, Trump separately refiled a $10 billion defamation lawsuit on Wednesday against Dow Jones & Company, publisher of The Wall Street Journal, over an article covering a birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein. That's a separate fight — but it's part of a broader pattern of the president using litigation aggressively.

What Mainstream Coverage Got Wrong

The initial CNN report framed this as a Carroll perjury investigation. That framing spread fast. Headlines across the board led with Carroll's name as the subject.

Boutros' public statement undermined that narrative. Whether the original reporting was sloppy, leaked selectively, or deliberately spun to generate a Carroll-as-criminal narrative — the facts don't support leading with Carroll as the criminal target.

Perjury related to Carroll's testimony is part of what's being examined, per NBC News. But it's a secondary thread in an investigation primarily about how a Hoffman-backed nonprofit moved money to fund politically significant litigation against a sitting president.

Deputy AG Blanche Is Recused

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has recused himself from this investigation, according to a source cited by NBC News. Why? Because Blanche was one of Trump's personal attorneys during the appeal of the Carroll verdict.

That's a significant conflict of interest that was properly handled. But it also raises a question: if Trump's own former defense lawyer is a senior DOJ official and had to recuse himself from this specific probe, how clean is the line between the DOJ's legal judgment and Trump's personal interests here?

The Hoffman Pattern

The DOJ targeting a Hoffman-backed nonprofit fits a broader pattern. The Guardian notes that DOJ officials have also pushed prosecutors to crack down on a nonprofit tied to George Soros. The DOJ filed money-laundering conspiracy charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center in April — charges that legal experts told The Guardian are "flimsy." Lawyers for SPLC moved to dismiss this week, alleging vindictive prosecution.

Three major Democratic-aligned funding organizations under federal criminal scrutiny inside of a single year.

Does that mean every charge is bogus? No. Money laundering through nonprofit structures is a real crime that prosecutors have pursued across the political spectrum. The law doesn't care who funds your PAC or your nonprofit. If Hoffman's organization actually laundered money or obstructed justice, that's a legitimate federal case — full stop.

But the political targeting optics are difficult to ignore.

The View Weighed In. Moving On.

The hosts of ABC's "The View" blasted the DOJ investigation Thursday, per The Hill. Joy Behar said "What the hell?" Television personalities reacting emotionally to news headlines is not substantive analysis.

What This Means for Regular People

If you're not Reid Hoffman, E. Jean Carroll, or Donald Trump, here's your takeaway: the DOJ under Trump is investigating major Democratic donors and the nonprofits they use to fund litigation against Trump. Whether those investigations are legitimate legal enforcement or political retaliation — or some messy combination of both — is a question the facts will eventually answer.

The initial "Carroll perjury probe" framing was incomplete at best, misleading at worst. The primary target appears to be Hoffman. Carroll's testimony is a secondary thread. A Trump-appointed prosecutor said so publicly, on the record.