WASHINGTON – The US Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation into E. Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist who accused US President Donald Trump of sexual assault, CNN reported Wednesday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter.

The investigation is focused on whether Carroll committed perjury in testimony tied to her two civil lawsuits against Trump -- one alleging Trump sexually abused Carroll in a New York department store in the mid-1990s, and a second for defaming her when in 2019 Trump repeatedly denied the assault, said she wasn't his type and claimed she made it up to boost sales of a book, according to the report.

Prosecutors' theory hinges on a 2022 deposition statement by Carroll, 82, that she received no outside funding for her lawsuit, though it was later revealed that billionaire Reid Hoffman had paid some legal fees and expenses, said the report.

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In May 2023, a federal jury from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in a verdict awarded Carroll 5 million dollars in damages, including nearly 3 million dollars for defamation, after finding Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and then defaming her in 2022 for public statements he made disparaging her and denying the allegations.

Caroll is still embroiled in multiple legal battles with the president. Trump has appealed the 5 million dollars' sexual abuse case judgment to the US Supreme Court and has pledged to do the same with the 83 million dollars' defamation case. The Supreme Court has deferred its decision on whether to take up Trump's appeal 12 times. The most recent deferral was made on Wednesday morning, said the report.