TRIGGER WARNING: This story contains graphic descriptions of sexual assault that are both deeply troubling and hard to read.
In 1994, Donald Trump was a struggling real estate baron, well known in New York’s tabloid press as a swashbuckling playboy.
He was also close friends with Jeffrey Epstein—who, as Trump himself would later put it, was very interested in young girls.
That summer, both men were accused of raping a 13-year-old girl.
The accuser, who filed lawsuits under the names Katie Johnson and Jane Doe, said she was kept as a “sex slave” at Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse and violently assaulted by Trump. He has denied the allegations.
The case was dropped just days before the 2016 election—and the media has barely touched it since.
In this NOTICE News Deep Dive, we’ll examine:
What Katie Johnson says happened—and how her story holds up in court filings
Trump’s response, and the unresolved questions that remain
Where the story stands today—including a new development that could change everything
These aren’t just allegations against a man with power—they’re against the man with the most power. A man who was found by a court to have raped another woman.
But when the victim is 13, silence isn’t just cowardly. It’s complicity.
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➡️ The first accusations
In April 2016, an anonymous woman filed an explosive lawsuit in a federal court in Riverside, California. Federal law allowed her to use a pseudonym—so in court documents she’s identified as “Katie Johnson.”
HER CLAIM: In the original court filing, Johnson alleged that in 1994, when she was only 13 years old, she was lured to Epstein’s mansion in Manhattan under the false promises of advancing her modeling career.
Johnson describes in graphic detail four separate encounters in which she says Trump sexually abused her, adding he definitely knew how old she was.
She alleges the abuse escalated from forced sexual touching to oral sex, and eventually to acts involving other children.
Below is an excerpt from the complaint describing what Johnson says happened during the third encounter. Warning: it contains disturbing content.
On the third occasion involving the Defendant, Donald J. Trump, the Plaintiff, Katie Johnson was forced to engage in an unnatural lesbian act with her fellow minor and sex slave, Maria Doe age 12, for the sexual enjoyment of Defendant Trump. After this sex act, both minors were forces to orally copulate Defendant Trump by placing their mouths simultaneously on his erect penis until he achieved sexual orgasm. After zipping up his pants, Defendant Trump physically pushed both minors away while angrily berating them for the ‘poor’ quality of their sexual performance.
On their fourth encounter, Johnson alleged Trump tied her to a bed, who “then proceeded to forcibly rape” her. It goes on:
During the course of this savage sexual attack, Plaintiff Johnson loudly pleaded with Defendant Trump to ‘please wear a condom’. Defendant Trump responded by violently striking Plaintiff Johnson in the face with his open hand and screaming that ‘he would so whatever he wanted’ as he refused to wear protection. After achieving sexual orgasm, the Defendant… put his suit back on and when the Plaintiff, Katie Johnson, in tears asked [Trump] what would happen if he had impregnated her, [Trump] grabbed his wallet and threw some money at her and screamed that she should use the money ‘to get a fucking abortion.’
The complaint also goes on to allege that Trump took Johnson’s virginity in that encounter—and that upon hearing that, Epstein also raped Johnson, angry that Trump, and not he, had taken her virginity.
OH, AND: Johnson also alleged that both Trump and Epstein threatened physical harm to her or her family if anyone found out that she was their “sex slave.”
BUT BUT BUT: The following month, the case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee, an Obama appointee.
The dismissal was not based on the merits of the allegations, but on technical legal grounds: Judge Gee ruled that the complaint did not raise valid claims under federal law.
Specifically, the lawsuit relied on a criminal statute that doesn’t allow for civil lawsuits, and the relevant civil statute only applies to actions based on “race-based or class-based animus,” which did not apply to this case.
Because of these technical legal flaws, the case was dismissed before any hearing or trial was held.
Trump and his legal team vehemently denied all of these allegations.
⚖️ The second lawsuit
Shortly after the California case was dismissed, Johnson refiled her claims in New York, this time under the pseudonym Jane Doe.
The New York case repeated the core allegations of the California case, but included detailed witness statements, and a new count of defamation related to Trump’s denials.
It is not uncommon for a plaintiff to refile a lawsuit in a different jurisdiction, especially if the original case was dismissed because of a technicality.
FAST FORWARD: The case picked up renewed media attention in October 2016, when well-known attorney Lisa Bloom took up Johnson’s case.
Bloom had briefly advised Harvey Weinstein before his sexual abuse scandal broke, and had represented women who accused former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly of sexual misconduct.
Bloom scheduled a press conference to be held shortly before the 2016 presidential election where Katie Johnson would come forward publicly.
BUT BUT BUT: That press conference was abruptly canceled before it was set to begin.
According to Politico, Bloom appeared at the press conference without Johnson and explained Johnson’s absence:
‘Jane Doe has received numerous threats today,’ Bloom told the assembled journalists and TV cameras. ‘She has decided she is too afraid to show her face. ... She is in terrible fear.’
Bloom apologized to the press corps but declined to answer any shouted questions, including one asking whether she’d been in touch with Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
AND THEN: Just days after that cancelled press conference—and two days before the presidential election—Johnson voluntarily dropped the case against Trump and Epstein. No reason was given in court documents as to why she chose to drop the case.
Johnson’s withdrawal also came before any court hearing or testimony was given.
As a result, neither Donald Trump nor any other party testified under oath about the case.
🤨 Trump’s defense & other doubts
Trump has vigorously denied the claims. At the time, he dismissed them as a sham designed to smear him as he ran for office.
“It is categorically untrue. It is completely frivolous. It is baseless. It is irresponsible,” Trump attorney Alan Garten told Politico in September 2016. “I won’t even discuss the merits because it gives it credibility that it doesn’t deserve.”
ZOOM OUT: As the case started making news, a handful of news organizations raised doubts about the case.
In the summer of 2016, the British newspaper The Guardian investigated the claims and connected the promotion of her claims to a former producer of the salacious Jerry Springer Show.
A 2024 investigation by Snopes definitively linked the former Springer producer to Johnson, saying he helped her craft her first case in California.
That producer, according to Snopes, had a history of pushing dubious and fake stories about celebs.
But, as Snopes admitted, the producer’s “involvement does not prove that Johnson's claims are false or that she does not exist.”
BUT BUT BUT: No corporate journalist has been able corroborate the claims alleged by Johnson in the lawsuit, despite what Snopes claimed were legitimate efforts by media companies to do so.
At the time the California lawsuit first appeared, the online tabloid Radar Online claimed the address Johnson listed on court documents was a foreclosed home with no known residents for nearly a year.
That reporting was never independently verified.
Still, these allegations were made prior to Trump being found liable of raping E. Jean Carroll.
Now, allegations once described by Jezebel as ‘beyond the pale’ no longer seem so far-fetched today.
👀 Latest bombshell
In recent weeks, given Trump’s new eagerness to bury the Epstein story, Johnson’s claims again have been circulating widely on the internet.
Many of the memes and pictures going viral are fake. There are no known photos or videos of Johnson that have been independently verified.
However, an independent journalist has claimed to have tracked down…
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