**Recent reports of a Department of Justice criminal inquiry into E. Jean Carroll center on whether she committed perjury in a 2022 deposition regarding outside funding for her civil lawsuits against President Trump.** The inquiry, first reported in May 2026 and led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, examined financial support from Reid Hoffman’s nonprofit American Future Republic. Officials quickly clarified that no investigation targeted Carroll personally, focusing instead on the nonprofit’s activities, with possible angles including funding disclosure, conspiracy, or related matters. No indictment or formal charges have followed, and public updates have remained limited since the initial reports and denial. Carroll collected the upheld $5 million-plus civil judgment after the Supreme Court declined Trump’s appeals in June and August 2026. Trader consensus on federal charging by year-end reflects the probe’s early stage, the official clarification, and the absence of further documented developments that would advance the matter to indictment. Resolution hinges on whether the DOJ moves from investigation to formal charges within the market window.