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Are there public records or transcripts available of Katie Johnson’s testimony?
Executive summary
Public records tied to a plaintiff using the name “Katie Johnson” exist — including a filed federal complaint and docket entries from 2016 — and some materials described as “transcripts” or taped interviews are publicly posted (for example, a taped interview in the Indianapolis Public Library digital collection and court docket entries on CourtListener) [1] [2]. Reporting and archival copies (e.g., an Archive.org text capture and Plainsite docket download) show the lawsuit documents were filed and later dismissed in November 2016; contemporary news coverage notes the plaintiff withdrew after threats and that transcripts circulated online later were tied to that civil case rather than to a 2006 Epstein grand jury file [3] [4] [5].
1. What publicly available court records exist and where to find them
Federal court filings for a case styled Katie Johnson v. Donald J. Trump (C.D. Cal., 5:16-cv-00797) are publicly listed on docket aggregators such as CourtListener and mirrored in archive collections; copies of the complaint and docket pages appear in those repositories [2] [3]. Plainsite and Archive.org have copies or text captures of the complaint and related documents, meaning primary court pleadings from the 2016 civil suit are accessible through those archives [4] [3].
2. Transcripts and “testimony” materials — what exists and where they came from
A “taped interview” transcript identified as Katie L. Johnson Wilson is posted in the Indianapolis Public Library digital collections, indicating at least one recorded interview transcript is preserved in a public digital archive [1]. Separately, social posts and threads point to circulated “transcripts” of alleged sworn testimony, but those posts do not themselves verify authenticity; mainstream coverage clarifies that many of the documents widely shared in 2025 were actually tied to the 2016 anonymous civil suit rather than to unrelated grand jury files [6] [5].
3. How journalists and fact-checkers have treated the materials
Newsweek and other reporting examined the provenance of circulated pages and concluded documents being shared on social platforms were from the anonymous 2016 lawsuit, not from the 2006 Epstein grand jury transcript dump; Newsweek specifically notes about 150 pages of grand jury-related material were released in 2025 but the viral document came from the 2016 suit [5]. This distinction matters because court-annotated grand jury transcripts and a private civil complaint carry different legal contexts and standards of release [5].
4. Why some records are incomplete or hard to locate
The plaintiff in the 2016 case used a pseudonym, drew threats, and the case was voluntarily dismissed in November 2016, which limited courtroom hearings and publicly available sworn court testimony from live proceedings; contemporaneous reporting says the plaintiff withdrew after receiving threats and counsel filed notice to dismiss without public explanation [5]. That sequence helps explain why some claimants point to “transcripts”—they may be referencing pre-litigation interviews, taped media interviews, or pleadings rather than formal court testimony from a live, adjudicated trial record [1] [3].
5. What isn’t clearly documented in the available sources
Available sources do not mention a complete, authenticated transcript of in-court sworn testimony from a trial in which Katie Johnson testified against Donald Trump — reporting and archives instead point to a civil complaint, associated filings and publicized interview transcripts or tapes (not a trial transcript) [3] [1] [5]. If you are seeking an official reporter’s transcript from a courtroom hearing, current reporting and the docket copies do not show a published in-court transcript from a contested trial [2] [3].
6. How to access the materials yourself and what to watch for
Search the CourtListener docket for 5:16-cv-00797 to view docket entries and linked filings, and check Archive.org and Plainsite for mirrored captures of complaint PDFs and related documents [2] [3] [4]. For recorded interviews or taped-transcript items, consult the Indianapolis Public Library digital collections entry labeled “Taped interview with Katie L. Johnson Wilson” [1]. When using social posts or threads that claim to show “testimony transcripts,” verify provenance against those primary docket and archival sources because journalists (e.g., Newsweek) have flagged misattribution between the 2016 civil suit material and later-released grand jury documents [5] [6].
Conclusion — balance and limits
There are public filings and some taped-interview transcripts connected to the person using the name Katie Johnson, and multiple archives and news outlets have copied or analyzed those materials [3] [1] [5]. However, available reporting does not document a formal, authenticated courtroom transcript from a contested trial in which she testified; social-media “testimonials” often conflate different document sets, so verifying origin against the court docket and archival copies is essential [2] [3] [5].