The woman who filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump alleging he raped her when she was 13 years old was scheduled to speak out publicly Wednesday, but the press conference was called off just as it was scheduled to start. Her attorney, Lisa Bloom, told members of the media that the accuser—who is still going by her identity in court documents, Jane Doe—had received numerous death threats throughout the day and decided against revealing her identity.
The accuser alleges that Trump raped her repeatedly at a series of 1994 parties thrown by billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, who has since been convicted and served 13 months for solicitation and procurement of minors for prostitution. Epstein was "widely known to throw wild parties with young women and girls," according to The Huffington Post, which also found Trump admitted to knowing Epstein in a New York Magazine article: "I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy...He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it—Jeffrey enjoys his social life."
A court date has been set for December 16 of this year, when Trump is scheduled to have a "status conference" with a judge. According to HuffPost, the story has so far received minimal mainstream media coverage for a number of reasons, including that the accuser has remained anonymous and her public backers were heavily criticized in the press.
Trump's defenders will likely point out that Bill Clinton has also been linked to Jeffrey Epstein.
