What were the key dates and filings in Katie Johnson v. Donald Trump during 2016?

1. The filing: an April 26, 2016 complaint that named Trump and Epstein

The docket and multiple document repositories show a complaint filed April 26, 2016 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Eastern Division, captioned Katie Johnson v. Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey E. Epstein (Case No. 5:16‑cv‑00797) ^{[1] [2]}. The archived complaint, reproduced in public archives, alleges that the plaintiff—using the name Katie Johnson—was trafficked and sexually assaulted as a minor and seeks $100,000,000 in damages ^[3].

2. Court assignment and administrative entries at the end of April 2016

CourtListener and other docket mirrors report that the case was assigned to Judge Dolly M. Gee, with discovery referred to Magistrate Judge Karen L. Stevenson; assorted administrative filings (a certification of interested parties, an in forma pauperis request, and summons) were entered on or about April 27, 2016 ^{[2] [4]}.

3. Quick termination: May 2, 2016 dismissal for failure to state a federal claim

The federal dockets show the case was terminated May 2, 2016. The docket entry and a short order indicate the complaint “fails to state a civil rights claim” under the federal statutes cited and the case was closed (MD JS‑6, Case Terminated) ^{[2] [1]}. Public docket summaries repeat the Date Terminated as May 2, 2016 ^{[1] [5]}.

4. Last known filings and archive retrieval dates (May 9, 2016)

Court databases list the “Date of Last Known Filing” as May 9, 2016 and several docket services retrieved the docket on or about May 9, 2016; those dates reflect when the public docket snapshot was last updated or retrieved rather than necessarily signaling new substantive pleadings after the May 2 termination ^{[1] [6]}.

5. Content of the complaint and relief sought

Archival copies of the complaint set out graphic allegations against Trump and Epstein, describe alleged events when the plaintiff was a minor, and demand $100 million in damages under statutes including 18 U.S.C. § 2241 and 42 U.S.C. § 1983/1985 as framed by the pro se pleading ^[3]. The publicly available text is explicit about the allegations and the statutory claims the pro se plaintiff attempted to assert ^[3].

6. Subsequent related filings and separate reporting context

Later reporting and compilations note other filings in 2016 that variously used different pseudonyms or were filed in other jurisdictions; for instance, secondary summaries and later news threads describe additional suits or iterations (a June filing reportedly withdrawn, and a September “Jane Doe” filing in New York described in later sources), but those more detailed timelines are presented in secondary summaries compiled years later and are outside the primary Riverside/California federal docket snapshot at issue here ^{[7] [8]}. Available sources do not mention any appellate filings tied to the April 2016 Central District post‑termination ^{[1] [2]}.

7. Discrepancies, limitations, and what the records do not show

Primary court records in the provided set agree on the April 26, 2016 filing and the May 2, 2016 termination; they list May 9, 2016 as the last known filing date but give no detailed docket text after the termination entry ^{[1] [2]}. Secondary compilations (news articles and later summaries) discuss additional related lawsuits or versions of claims later in 2016, but those items are not fully documented on the Central District docket entries supplied here and thus cannot be conclusively tied to the April Riverside filing from the provided documents alone ^{[7] [8]}. If you want a full chronology of other 2016 filings that used different plaintiff names or courts, that requires sourcing beyond the Central District docket snapshots included above—those additional filings are described in later reporting but are not detailed in the primary docket sources supplied ^{[7] [8]}.

8. Bottom line for researchers and journalists

For the Riverside/California federal docket: key dates are April 26, 2016 (complaint filed), April 27, 2016 (administrative docket entries), May 2, 2016 (case terminated for failure to state a federal civil‑rights claim), and May 9, 2016 (last known filing/retrieval date recorded by databases) ^{[1] [2]}. Broader narratives about multiple filings that year appear in later reporting, but those accounts extend beyond the immediate Central District docket records supplied here and should be verified against the separate dockets and filings they reference ^{[7] [8]}.