A former aide to President Donald Trump questioned why his administration was launching a criminal investigation of E. Jean Carroll, who successfully sued him twice for sexual assault and defamation, just months before crucial elections.
A jury found Trump liable in 2023 for sexually abusing the writer and columnist decades earlier, and he was also found liable for defamation over comments he made about her on social media.
Former White House director of strategic communications Alyssa Farah Griffin told "CNN News Central" the Department of Justice perjury investigation of Carroll, announced Wednesday, was a bemusing mistake.
"I will never understand why this administration wants to put some of the worst associations of the president back in the headlines," Griffin said. "Most of us have kind of forgotten about the E. Jean Carroll suit, the allegations, what he was ultimately found liable for, and now it puts it front and center."
"It's very similar to the Jan. 6 cases, DOJ wants to keep rehashing them," she added. "But then Republicans also say, 'Oh, Democrats keep talking about Jan. 6.' No, this president keeps talking about the election lies, Jan. 6. So from purely a standpoint of wanting to focus on his domestic agenda and move forward, this makes zero sense."
Co-host John Berman asked what the administration got out of pursuing possible prosecution against Carroll.
"Absolutely nothing – it's not a headline that they want, and we've seen a number of these cases go forward," Griffin said. "James Comey and others, where they overreach. DOJ was not able to get the outcome that they wanted, and I suspect this will be a similar case, not from a legal perspective, but based on what we know, this should be the last thing Donald Trump wants to talk about in the twilight of his presidency. He should be focusing on the economy, gas prices, the war in Iran, not re-litigating this."
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