The lawsuit in question was filed in 2016 by a woman using the pseudonym "Katie Johnson," who also identified herself as "Jane Doe". This lawsuit accused Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein of sexual assault and rape at parties hosted by Epstein in Manhattan in 1994, when the accuser was 13 years old. The initial lawsuit filed in California was dismissed for procedural reasons. A subsequent version filed in New York was eventually dropped days before the 2016 presidential election, with reports citing safety concerns for the accuser.