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Are there recordings, transcripts, or primary documents of Katie Johnson’s testimony available?
Executive summary
Public records show that court filings and docket entries exist for the 2016 “Katie Johnson” civil suits accusing Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump, and several outlets report that supporting affidavits and documents were filed and later withdrawn [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and archival links indicate at least a transcript of a taped interview labeled “Katie L. Johnson Wilson” in the Indianapolis Public Library digital collection and copies of the 2016 complaint and related docket items are available through court-docket aggregators and archives [4] [5] [1].
1. What public court documents exist and where researchers found them
Federal docket records for "Katie Johnson v. Donald J. Trump" (case 5:16-cv-00797) are publicly listed on CourtListener and show filings such as the original complaint, case management entries, referrals, and termination entries — indicating the suit was filed and later dismissed or dropped in 2016 [1]. Archival copies of the complaint text and related PDF/Text mirrors have circulated online (for example, an archived text version of a lawsuit package is available via Archive.org) and have been quoted in reporting [5] [2]. Slideshare and other third-party uploads also host purported case documents, though provenance varies [6].
2. Recorded interviews and a transcript in a public archive
An item described as a "Taped interview with Katie L. Johnson Wilson (transcript)" is cataloged in the Indianapolis Public Library Digital Collections, indicating at least one archived interview transcript exists there [4]. The availability of an audio recording or full interactive experience may depend on the library interface and access settings; the catalog entry names a taped interview and a transcript [4].
3. News organizations’ reporting and summary documents
Legacy and contemporary outlets summarized the filings and reported that the Jane Doe who used “Katie Johnson” filed, refiled, and later dropped the suit; PBS Newsroom, Snopes, The Guardian and Newsweek provide timelines and context describing that filings were made in California and New York in 2016 and then withdrawn later that year [2] [3] [7] [8]. Newsweek’s reporting in 2025 specifically notes that pages of grand-jury-related transcripts released in 2025 are different from the 2016 lawsuit papers and clarifies which documents belong to the Katie Johnson civil case [8].
4. What’s in those documents — affidavits, sworn testimony, and transcripts
Multiple summaries and fact-checks state the civil suit included allegations and “supporting affidavits” and that the plaintiff presented claims she had been trafficked and assaulted in 1994 when she was a minor; Snopes summarized that the court documents are “part of a lawsuit” making those allegations [9] [2]. Reporting and social posts reference sworn testimony, conference calls and interviews connected to the plaintiff, but the primary court docket entries and archived complaint files are the clearest primary-doc evidence available through the cited databases [1] [5].
5. Questions about provenance, anonymity and organized promotion
The Guardian and other contemporaneous pieces reported skepticism and potential coordination around some of the filings, pointing to the involvement of a former TV producer (Norm Lubow) in organizing suits and media outreach — a detail that media outlets used to question provenance and motivation behind the filings while not negating that court papers were filed [7]. Snopes and other fact-checkers document how the filings circulated online and how elements were amplified, making context about origin and promotion relevant to evaluating the documents [9].
6. How to access the primary items and limitations to expect
Court dockets and many complaint PDFs are accessible through aggregator sites such as CourtListener and archival mirrors; some third-party uploads (Archive.org, Slideshare, PlainSite) host versions of the filings [1] [5] [6] [10]. The Indianapolis Public Library entry points to a taped interview transcript but does not, in the available snippet, confirm full audio playback without using the library’s interface [4]. Limitations: not all purported transcripts or social-media-shared “testimonies” are verified primary documents — provenance varies and some popular posts conflate different documents or draw on secondary summaries [8] [9].
7. Best next steps for a researcher seeking originals
Start with the federal docket for case 5:16-cv-00797 at CourtListener to obtain listed filings and document identifiers [1]. Search archive mirrors of the complaint (Archive.org and the cited text mirror) and check the Indianapolis Public Library digital catalog entry for the taped interview transcript [4] [5]. Cross-check any document you find against contemporaneous reporting from Snopes, The Guardian and PBS to understand which pages are court filings versus later-released grand-jury materials or social-media artifacts [9] [7] [3].
Available sources do not mention full, court-released deposition transcripts of Katie Johnson beyond the complaint, affidavits and the library-cataloged interview transcript — researchers should treat some widely circulated “testimony transcripts” on social media as unverified unless they can be matched to an identifiable court or archive record [4] [5] [1].