The Trump administration has opened a criminal investigation into E Jean Carroll, the writer who accused the president of sexual assault, according to news reports.

Prosecutors, the New York Times and CNN reported on Wednesday, are looking into whether Carroll, 82, committed perjury in a 2022 deposition during her civil lawsuits against Trump, in which she said she did not accept outside financial support for her legal battles.

Nearly six months later, before the trial started, Carroll’s attorneys informed the judge and Trump’s lawyers that a nonprofit funded by Reid Hoffman, the billionaire LinkedIn co-founder, had paid some legal fees and expenses. Trump’s lawyers claimed Carroll hid Hoffman’s funding and that the obfuscation undermined her credibility.

Carroll’s lawyers said she never met or spoke with anyone from the nonprofit. The judge allowed Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, to question Carroll again in a second deposition.

In 2024, a three-judge federal appeals court panel in New York dismissed the claim that Carroll had lied in her deposition.

Carroll, a longtime advice columnist, claimed in her 2019 book What Do We Need Men For? that Trump forced himself upon her in a New York department store’s dressing room. Trump denied the allegations, accusing her of “totally lying” and adding that she was “not my type”.

Carroll filed a federal civil lawsuit against Trump for sexual abuse and defamation. A jury found Trump liable on both counts, and awarded Carroll $5m in damages. A year later, a separate jury ordered Trump to pay $83m in another defamation case. Trump has appealed both judgments.

CNN and the New York Times reported that Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, has recused himself from the justice department investigation due to his role representing Trump in Carroll’s civil case.

The reported federal investigation into Carroll marks the latest example of Trump’s justice department launching criminal investigations into political opponents.

Federal prosecutors have investigated former FBI chief James Comey, New York attorney general Letitia James and Democratic members of Congress including Adam Schiff and Ilhan Omar. The investigations have not yet resulted in convictions.

The justice department and Carroll’s legal representatives did not immediately return the Guardian’s requests for comment.

Robert Mackey contributed reporting