New Delhi, May 28 -- The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday launched a criminal investigation against E Jean Carroll, the former magazine columnist who accused President Donald Trump of sexual assault.

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

Prosecutors' argument centres on a 2022 deposition in which Carroll, 82, said she had not received outside funding for her lawsuit. However,...