Uber-wealthy Democratic donor and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman was a major funder of E. Jean Carroll’s successful sexual assault lawsuit against President Trump, according to reports published by various outlets this week.
However, Carroll “completely forgot” when questioned under oath to disclose Hoffman’s financial involvement with her case.
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And now, the Justice Department has opened an investigation into her statement, which she made under oath, as well as the nonprofit that Hoffman operates.
The DOJ probe drew immediate rebuke from the left, who accused the Trump administration of weaponizing the government against a woman who a Manhattan jury decided was victimized by Trump in a Bergdorf Goodman dressing room three decades ago.
In 2023 and 2024, jurors awarded Carroll, a former Elle columnist, more than $88 million for defamation and sexual abuse in two civil lawsuits against Trump.
Critics of Ms. Carroll’s lawsuits say the DOJ’s investigation into her misstatement and the financial involvement of Hoffman will provide much-needed scrutiny of a case they have labeled “a hoax” paid for and directed by wealthy political opponents in a scheme to stop Trump from winning a second presidential term.
“Companies (or their principals) are making money off ordinary Americans only to turn around and use it to try to thwart the political choices made by ordinary Americans,” Jeffrey Clark, a former top Trump administration official, told the Washington Times on Thursday.
“Meanwhile, you get lectures about democracy,” he added.
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A source familiar with the DOJ investigation said that, for now anyway, Carroll is not a subject of the probe.
Federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Illinois are investigating matters related to her deposition and perjury.
However, the focus of the case is primarily on American Future Republic, a nonprofit organization funded by Hoffman.
In 2020, his nonprofit paid Carroll’s law firm $7 million, the Times reported.
Despite being unable to identify the exact date—or even the precise year—when she alleged the incident occurred, Carroll won both civil lawsuits against Trump.
Carroll also testified that she did not recall that Hoffman was helping finance at least one of the legal cases brought against Trump.
The litigation unfolded during the height of the Republican presidential primary campaign, requiring Trump to spend substantial time in a Manhattan courtroom while simultaneously seeking his party’s nomination, the Times noted.
“I just completely forgot,” Carroll, now 82, told a CNN panel in May 2023, when asked why she failed to disclose under oath that Hoffmann paid her legal fees.
“I just completely forgot he even existed,” she claimed.
Hoffman played a significant role in Democratic political fundraising while also helping support litigation brought by Carroll against Trump.
Hoffman has been one of Trump’s most prominent political opponents for years, backing efforts to defeat him in 2016, 2020, and 2024.
During the 2024 election cycle, he publicly committed substantial resources toward preventing Trump’s return to the White House.
Campaign finance records show Hoffman contributed at least $1 million to the Biden Victory Fund and $10 million to Future Forward during the 2024 cycle.
He also donated an additional $4 million to Republican Accountability PAC, a group that supported efforts to block Trump from securing the Republican presidential nomination, the Times reported.
Critics argue Hoffman’s extensive political spending and opposition to Trump make his financial involvement in litigation against the former president worthy of scrutiny.
“My primary motivation for participating in politics over the last eight years has been to oppose Donald Trump’s ongoing attempts to break American democracy by corrupting and hollowing out its most cherished institutions,” Hoffman said in August 2024.
“Unlike some, I have not forgotten Trump’s support of the Jan. 6 insurrection and its violence, nor his attempt to coerce state officials to ‘find’ him some more votes,” Hoffman added.
The DOJ and FBI are also investigating alleged nefarious activities since unearthed following the 2020 election, in which Biden reportedly received 81 million votes.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
