The Latest: DOJ opens investigation into E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of assault, source says

Summary

The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether E. Jean Carroll, the longtime advice columnist who has said President Donald Trump sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store 30 years ago, lied during the course of civil litigation against the Republican president, according to a person familiar with the matter. Also, a federal judge has declined to halt Trump’s executive order, creating a federal voter list and limiting mail voting, clearing the way for potential sweeping changes in how American elections are run shortly before this year’s midterm elections. Here's the latest: Carroll has said a flirtatious, chance encounter with Trump in 1996 ended violently She said Trump slammed her against a dressing room wall at Bergdorf Goodman’s Fifth Avenue store, pulled down her tights and forced himself on her. Trump has called the allegations a “made-up scam.” A jury in 2023 found Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll, awarding her $5 million. The following year, another jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in a defamation case related to Trump’s social media attacks on her. A court entry earlier this month said Trump won’t have to pay the award until the U.S. Supreme Court gets a chance to review the case or reject an appeal. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed to a request by one of Trump’s lawyers that it let the president delay the payment to Carroll, though it required that he post a $7.4 million bond to cover any additional interest costs, a request Carroll’s attorney had made. Justice Department opens investigation into E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of assault: AP source The Justice Department has opened an investigation into whether E. Jean Carroll, the longtime advice columnist who’s said Trump sexually assaulted her in a Manhattan department store 30 years ago, lied during the course of civil litigation against the Republican president, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person who confirmed the existence of the investigation wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing inquiry and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The perjury investigation is being led by the federal prosecutors’ office in Chicago, and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has had no involvement because of his prior work as Trump’s personal attorney, the person said. Lawyers for Carroll did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press on Thursday. It’s the latest in a series of investigations the Trump administration Justice Department has opened into perceived adversaries of the president. ▶ Read more — Alanna Durkin Richer and Eric Tucker Key inflation gauge worsens as Americans shell out more for gasoline Inflation jumped to 3.8% in April compared with a year ago, the Commerce Department said Thursday, up from 3.5% in March and the highest since May 2023. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.4%, down from the 0.7% jump in March. The report showed prices have risen for many items in addition to gas, indicating inflation could persist and pose problems for congressional Republicans in this year’s midterm elections. Inflation is also notably above the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%, which means Fed policymakers may decide to forego any cuts to their key short-term interest rate this year. Some officials have signaled their next move could be a hike rather than a cut. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core inflation rose to 3.3% in April from 3.2% the previous month. It’s the highest core figure since November 2023. One positive sign in the report: Core prices rose just 0.2% in April from March. ▶ Read more The Minneapolis immigration crackdown ended months ago. For these little kids, trauma remains The little girl approached the therapy dog outside the school library, reaching out to touch her fluffy blond coat. Social worker Nicole Herje leaned in. “How does it feel when you pet Sage?” Herje said. “I like it,” the girl said. “In Ecuador, I had a dog.” A few months earlier, this girl and many of her classmates at Valley View Elementary were staying off the streets to avoid the immigration officers flooding their suburban Minneapolis community. Attendance plummeted as families kept their kids from school during the Trump administration’s enforcement surge. Sage the goldendoodle is not just a cute diversion. She’s part of a broader strategy to address the psychological wounds of children who witnessed arrests, lost relatives to deportation or endured anxious weeks indoors. Immigration officers made more than 4,000 arrests and shot multiple people, two fatally, before “Operation Metro Surge” wound down in February, leaving an imprint on the psyches of young children that could haunt them for years, mental health providers say. ▶ Read more Republicans’ recent stumbles in Congress highlight the difficult road ahead for their agenda A roughly $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement through the remainder of President Trump’s term was supposed to be an easy lift for Republicans. But progress stalled over concerns about the inclusion of White House ballroom security funding in the package and the creation of a $1.8 billion fund to finance claims of government mistreatment. The stumble hasn’t only delayed action on a top GOP priority but also is raising questions about other parts of the party’s legislative agenda, including whether Republicans can enact another catchall, party-line bill referred to in Washington parlance as “Reconciliation 3.0.” Republicans have spent recent weeks laying the groundwork for such a bill, which they hope will serve as a final sales pitch to voters going into the midterms. ▶ Read more Federal judge refuses to block Trump order to create federal voter list and limit mail voting A federal judge has declined to halt Trump’s executive order, creating a federal voter list and limiting mail voting, clearing the way for potential sweeping changes in how American elections are run shortly before this year’s midterm elections. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols in Washington, D.C., a Trump appointee, late Wednesday rejected the request by Democrats and civil rights groups who had argued that Trump’s order would likely be found unconstitutional because the states and Congress, not the president, have the power to set election rules. Nichols agreed with the Trump administration’s contention it was too early to issue the order because it has yet to be implemented. The legal battle against the provision now shifts to Boston, where voting rights groups have a separate lawsuit against the executive order in federal court. ▶ Read more US military says Iran fired missiles at Kuwait in the latest challenge to the fragile ceasefire The U.S. military said that Kuwait had intercepted missiles launched by Iran late Wednesday night, calling the Iranian attack on one of the U.S. top allies in the Persian Gulf an “egregious ceasefire violation.” The attack on Kuwait was the latest flare-up to shake the fragile ceasefire reached last month between the U.S. and Iran. Kuwait had earlier announced an attack on its territory, and Iran announced it had retaliated after strikes earlier in the week on a U.S. base in a Gulf state it did not name. The Iranian strike came after, earlier in the week, the U.S. said it had struck Iranian missile launch sites, minelaying boats and attack drones it said posed threats near the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. US military strikes another alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific, killing 2 The U.S. military on Wednesday struck another vessel suspected of transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing two men. U.S. Southern Command posted video on social media showing a boat resting on the water before being struck by an explosion. The last few seconds of the video show smoke and fire rising from the boat. A day earlier, U.S. forces had launched a strike on an alleged drug vessel in the eastern Pacific, killing one man and leaving two survivors. Southern Command said it “immediately notified the U.S. Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors.” The Trump administration’s campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, has gone on since early September and killed at least 196 people in total. The military has not provided evidence that any of the vessels were carrying drugs. ▶ Read more AP Exclusive: Trump administration tells prosecutors to stand down on Venezuela leader, sources say The Trump administration has quietly instructed federal prosecutors in Miami to avoid pursuing criminal investigations into Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a longtime target of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, according to current and former U.S. law enforcement officials, in the latest sign of warming relations between the White House and the oil-rich nation. It’s unclear whether prosecutors had implicated Rodríguez in any crimes or whether investigators were moving toward an indictment. A Justice Department spokesperson said in an email, “There was never an investigation into her to shut down.” But DEA records obtained by The Associated Press earlier this year show she consistently surfaced on the radar of federal law enforcement dating to at least 2018, though she has never been criminally charged in the U.S. like several other senior Venezuelan officials. The directive to pause scrutiny into Rodríguez was meant to avoid upsetting the administration’s efforts to stabilize Venezuela after the capture of her predecessor, Nicolás Maduro, among other reasons, the official said. It was not clear whether the White House, which deferred comment to the Justice Department, was involved in the decision. ▶ Read more World shares decline and oil prices gain more than $2 after US strikes on Iran World shares declined Thursday following more of what the U.S. military said were defensive strikes against Iran. Oil prices gained more than $2 a barrel after having dropped sharply a day before. In early European trading, Germany’s DAX was nearly unchanged at 25,175.63 and the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.4% to 8,172.84. Britain’s FTSE 100 slumped 0.9% to 10,416.62. The futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average edged 0.1% lower. On Wednesday, U.S. stocks inched to more records after oil prices declined more than 4%, easing pressure on consumers and businesses worldwide. ▶ Read more US military conducts another strike against Iran after Trump says Iran is ‘negotiating on fumes’ U.S. forces carried out new defensive strikes on Iran on Wednesday after Trump asserted that Iran is “negotiating on fumes” and insisted that November’s midterm elections in the United States won’t make him rush into a deal to end the nearly three-month-old conflict. U.S. Central Command forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz, according to U.S. officials who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The U.S. military also struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone, the officials said. Details about the strikes emerged after Trump, at a Cabinet meeting earlier Wednesday, expressed confidence that his administration was making headway on settling the war, even though the talks still remain very much in flux. ▶ Read more