What other lawsuits naming Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump were filed in 2016 and what became of them?
Executive summary
In 2016 an anonymous plaintiff using the names “Katie Johnson” and later “Jane Doe” filed multiple civil complaints that named Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump, alleging sexual abuse beginning when she was a minor; those filings were dismissed or voluntarily withdrawn that same year [1] [2]. Court records show at least one federal case in the Southern District of New York (Doe v. Trump, case 1:16-cv-07673-RA) and earlier California filings, but public reporting and later document releases make clear the claims did not survive in court in 2016 [3] [4] [1].
1. The plaintiff and the filings: an anonymous plaintiff refiles under pseudonyms
A woman proceeded anonymously in 2016, first filing under the pseudonym “Katie Johnson” in California and later as “Jane Doe” in filings that reached federal court in New York; those pleadings accused Epstein and Trump of sexual assault at Epstein’s New York residence in the 1990s and were the source of documents that resurfaced in later reporting and releases [1] [4].
2. The federal docket: Doe v. Trump in the Southern District of New York
Public court records identify a 2016 federal complaint styled Doe v. Trump, docketed as case 1:16-cv-07673-RA and filed in October 2016 in the Southern District of New York; the complaint alleges the plaintiff was a minor when she says she was assaulted at Epstein-associated parties and names both Trump and Epstein as defendants [3] [4].
3. What became of the 2016 claims: dismissal and withdrawal
Reporting and court documents indicate the California suit was dismissed and that subsequent suits by the same anonymous claimant were dropped during 2016—with one widely cited summary noting a November 4, 2016 drop—and later media fact-checks stressed that the graphic court papers circulating online came from filings that were dismissed or voluntarily abandoned that year [2] [1] [5].
4. The evidentiary trail and later document releases
While some of the 2016 court papers have been republished or appear among document troves tied to Epstein litigation, news organizations and fact-checkers emphasize those particular filings were from cases that did not proceed to judgment in 2016; unsealed records released later in connection with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell have referenced prominent names, but the 2016 anonymous lawsuit itself had been dismissed or withdrawn [1] [6].
5. Responses from named parties and competing narratives
Trump’s legal team denied the allegations in the 2016 filings, and Epstein declined to comment at the time, positions documented in contemporaneous reporting; at the same time, some outlets and advocates pointed to the existence of the pleadings and later document dumps as reason to press for more transparency, while fact-checkers cautioned that the filings’ mere existence is not the same as a court finding of liability [2] [7] [6].
6. Limits, lingering questions and why the case resurfaced later
Public sources reviewed here document the filings and their dismissal or withdrawal but do not provide a detailed public transcript explaining every procedural reason the 2016 suits ended—whether for jurisdictional, evidentiary, tactical, or other legal reasons—so the record shows the suits were filed and then abandoned/dismissed in 2016, but does not fully explain why the plaintiff chose not to pursue them to conclusion in open court [1] [2] [4].
7. The broader context: how these 2016 suits fit into later disclosures
The 2016 anonymous complaints are part of a patchwork of Epstein-era litigation and subsequent document releases that have generated renewed attention to attendees and associates; journalists and courts have since produced additional records and unsealed filings about Epstein and Maxwell, but the specific 2016 claims naming both Epstein and Trump did not result in a trial or judicial finding that year and were dismissed or withdrawn [1] [6] [7].