Reid Hoffman Defies Trump DOJ Probe Over Near-$100 Million Carroll Case
Updated
Updated · Forbes · May 29
Reid Hoffman Defies Trump DOJ Probe Over Near-$100 Million Carroll Case
14 articles · Updated · Forbes · May 29
Reid Hoffman said Friday he will not “bend the knee” after reports that the Trump Justice Department is criminally investigating him and his nonprofit, American Future Republic, over donations tied to E. Jean Carroll’s litigation.
The reported focus shifted after initial accounts suggested Carroll herself was being scrutinized for possible perjury over undisclosed funding; the DOJ then said it had “never opened” an investigation into Carroll, and later reporting identified Hoffman as the main target.
Hoffman called the allegations “absurdly false” and argued he is being investigated because he backed Carroll, whose defamation and assault judgments against Trump now total nearly $100 million.
The funding issue surfaced before Carroll’s first 2023 trial, but a federal appeals court has already said there was “no evidence” Carroll personally secured the nonprofit’s money or interacted with it.
When does funding a lawsuit become a crime instead of an act of support?
Are billionaire-funded lawsuits creating a new, private system of justice?