2026-05-29T00:22:41.566Z / 路透社
华盛顿5月28日电(路透社)—— 据一位知情人士周四透露,美国司法部正对与亿万富翁里德·霍夫曼有关联的一个机构展开调查,该机构曾部分资助作家E·吉恩·卡罗尔起诉唐纳德·特朗普总统的诉讼。
据这位因讨论正在进行的调查而要求匿名的消息人士透露,此次调查由芝加哥美国检察官办公室牵头,重点调查该机构“美国未来共和国”可能存在的洗钱和妨碍司法行为。
订阅《每日案卷》新闻简报,将最新法律资讯直接发送至您的收件箱,开启您的清晨阅读。点击此处注册。
该机构曾为卡罗尔的法律账单支付部分费用,卡罗尔此前起诉特朗普性虐待和诽谤的诉讼均已胜诉。
这位消息人士周三曾向路透社表示,调查正在审查卡罗尔是否在2022年的证词中就其诉讼的资助情况作伪证。但该人士周四表示,尽管调查确实涉及这笔资助,但卡罗尔并非调查的重点对象。
特朗普领导的司法部追查总统的反对者
目前尚不清楚检察官掌握了针对该机构的哪些证据。在美国,外部机构为诉讼提供资金的情况十分常见,通常不被视为非法。
芝加哥美国检察官安德鲁·布特罗斯的发言人未立即回应置评请求,无法确认调查是否针对霍夫曼的机构。周四早些时候,该办公室在一份声明中表示,尚未对卡罗尔展开刑事调查。
记者未能立即联系到“美国未来共和国”置评。霍夫曼的风险投资公司格雷洛克合伙公司的发言人在常规工作时间结束后未立即回复置评请求。霍夫曼是民主党知名捐赠人,同时也是领英的联合创始人。
自去年以来,特朗普领导的司法部对多名总统的反对者展开了一系列调查,并在部分案件中提起了刑事指控。
卡罗尔共提起两起胜诉诉讼,分别于2023年和2024年作出判决。她指控特朗普在1990年代于纽约一家百货商场对其实施性虐待,并随后称她在撒谎,对其进行诽谤。
2024年,一家上诉法院就这位作家可能作伪证的问题作出裁决,认定“卡罗尔女士有理由称,2022年首次被问及此事时,她忘记了2020年9月获得的少量外部律师资助,而额外的调查也未表明其他情况”。
2023年5月的陪审团裁定特朗普性侵卡罗尔并对其进行诽谤,但根据纽约州的法律定义,不认定其犯有强奸罪。2024年1月的另一个陪审团裁定特朗普对其进行了诽谤,责令其支付8330万美元的损害赔偿金。
特朗普否认存在任何不当行为,目前仍与卡罗尔处于法律纠纷之中。
该消息人士称,代理司法部长托德·布兰奇自上任以来迅速落实特朗普的要求,由于他曾作为特朗普的私人律师参与卡罗尔案的上诉程序,因此已回避参与司法部的此次调查。
安德鲁·古兹沃德报道;威廉·马拉德编辑
US probes Reid Hoffman group over funding lawsuits against Trump, source says
2026-05-29T00:22:41.566Z / Reuters
WASHINGTON, May 28 (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department has opened an investigation into a group tied to billionaire Reid Hoffman over its partial funding of writer E. Jean Carroll’s lawsuits against President Donald Trump, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
The investigation, being run out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago, is focused on potential money laundering and obstruction associated with the group, American Future Republic, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation.
Jumpstart your morning with the latest legal news delivered straight to your inbox from The Daily Docket newsletter. Sign up here.
The group covered some of Carroll’s legal bills in successful lawsuits accusing Trump of sexual abuse and defamation.
The source had told Reuters on Wednesday that the investigation was examining whether Carroll had committed perjury regarding the funding of her suit in a 2022 deposition. But the person said on Thursday that while the probe is examining that funding, Carroll is not a focus of the investigation.
TRUMP’S DOJ PURSUES PRESIDENT’S ANTAGONISTS
It was not immediately clear what evidence prosecutors had against the group. Funding of lawsuits by outside groups is common in the U.S. and not generally considered illegal.
A spokesperson for U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros in Chicago did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the probe is examining Hoffman’s group. Earlier on Thursday, the office said in a statement that it had not opened a criminal investigation of Carroll.
American Future Republic could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokesperson for Hoffman’s venture capital firm, Greylock Partners, did not immediately respond after regular business hours. Hoffman, a prominent donor to the Democratic Party, is a co-founder of LinkedIn.
Since last year, Trump’s Justice Department has pursued a slew of investigations against the president’s antagonists and has brought criminal charges in some cases.
Carroll brought two successful lawsuits, decided in 2023 and 2024, alleging Trump sexually abused her in a New York department store in the 1990s and later defamed her by saying she was lying about the matter.
An appeals court in 2024 addressed the issue of potential perjury by the writer, deciding that “Ms. Carroll plausibly represented that she had forgotten about the limited outside funding counsel obtained in September 2020 when this question was first posed to her in 2022, and the additional discovery did not indicate otherwise.”
A jury found in May 2023 that Trump had sexually assaulted Carroll and defamed her but did not rape her under the New York definition of the crime. Another jury in January 2024 found that he had defamed her, ordering him to pay $83.3 million in damages.
Trump has denied all wrongdoing and is still in legal battles with Carroll.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who has moved quickly to carry out Trump’s demands since taking over from his predecessor, Pam Bondi, has been recused from the department’s investigation as he worked as one of Trump’s personal attorneys on the Carroll appeals, the source said.
Reporting by Andrew Goudsward; Editing by William Mallard
发表回复