On Friday, a lawsuit filed against Donald Trump by 'Katie Johnson' was

The woman who alleged that Donald Trump raped her at age 13 at one of billionaire pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's notorious 'sex parties' fabricated the story, DailyMail.com has learned exclusively.

When the civil suit was initially filed last April, Trump's legal team branded the allegations 'disgusting at the highest level' and a 'hoax' clearly framed to 'solicit media attention or, perhaps... simply politically motivated'.

Clinton supporters had seized on the story as a possible knock out blow.

Then, last Wednesday, Katie Johnson suddenly cancelled a packed press conference at which she was set to reveal herself for the first time, saying she was 'too afraid' following a series of 'threats' against her.

On Friday, six months after legal papers were filed, the civil lawsuit was dramatically dropped.

Katie Johnson's shocking allegations first emerged in a lawsuit filed in California in April this year. She claimed she was raped by Donald Trump when she was a 13-year-old in 1994 - but now she has dramatically dropped the case as DailyMail.com learns that her story was not true

Social media erupted with claims that the woman had been paid off by Trump or was so terrified by threats to her life from Trump supporters that she was forced to withdraw her claims.

But DailyMail.com has learned that the real reason the suit was dropped is because the claims were simply NOT true.

The woman first sued Trump and Jeffrey Epstein under the name Katie Johnson - a name we know not to be her real identity - on April 26 in California federal court and filed an amended complaint in New York federal court in October, claiming she was subject to rape, criminal sexual acts, assault, battery and false imprisonment.

The court papers offered no corroborative evidence that her claims were true.

News that the allegations were dropped dismayed Hillary supporters who had hoped the claims would be the knock out blow for Trump's election campaign - already rocked in recent weeks by a string of sex assault claims.

Thousands of loyal Hillary followers had opened a discussion about the rape claims on Twitter and other social media networks hoping to damage Trump's push for the White House.

The Huffington Post jumped on the bandwagon of anti-Trump sentiment after she made her claims, asking: 'Donald Trump Is Accused Of Raping A 13-Year-Old. Why Haven't The Media Covered It?'

When the suit was filed in April, Trump's legal team branded the allegations 'disgusting at the highest level' and a 'hoax' clearly framed to 'solicit media attention or, perhaps... simply politically motivated'

Dropped: Johnson had claimed in court papers that Trump took her virginity, forced her into role-play sex and alleges that he and financier Epstein treated her as a 'sex slave' in the summer in 1994

Johnson had claimed she encountered Trump at parties held by Jeffrey Epstein at his 71st Street townhouse in New York City

Epstein (left in 2008 and right earlier this year) was arrested in 2006 and accused of sexual abuse by 40 different women, with many alleging they were teenagers at the time

But DailyMail.com has been told that elements of what Johnson had claimed crumbled at the last minute.

Her claims can today be exposed as untruthful, the key fact being that Donald Trump was not involved whatsoever.

A source with knowledge of the controversial case told DailyMail.com: 'Katie Johnson's account had been believable and compelling right up until the last minute.

'But new information emerged that suggested she had not been telling the truth.

'Ultimately it was discovered that Donald Trump's name had been inserted into this, he was not involved whatsoever. After that she had no credibility.'

The revelation slaps down any suggestion that Johnson dropped the case thanks to a secret financial settlement with Trump, as has been speculated on social media.

It also clears Trump of any hint of wrong doing in association with the lawsuit.

DailyMail.com interviewed Johnson before the case was dropped.

She had claimed her motivation was to tell her story was to expose Donald Trump to stop him from becoming president.

'We would have a rapist in the White House. I would feel horrified every single day if I stay in this country,' she said, in dramatic terms.

Johnson said her experiences in the summer in 1994 still haunt her today.

'As much as I try to forget about everything that happened, it always affects everything in my life,' she said. 'I mean it affects my relationships, I don't think I've ever had a successful relationship, one that I feel I can trust that person, there's always that mistrust.'

But she also said that in 1994 she had no idea who her attacker was and that it was only when she watched The Apprentice that she came to believe it was Trump, claiming that she could not forget her attacker's face.

DailyMail.com has since learned that Johnson has two DUIs and a felony drug possession on her record and a history of drug abuse.

Johnson has a troubled past, and told DailyMail.com that she believes her experiences as a young girl led to those troubles.

The former real estate worker said recent spinal surgery has meant she is unable to work and claims disability welfare.

In lurid claims Johnson in court papers, she claimed Trump took her virginity, forced her in to role-play sex and alleges that he and financier Epstein treated her as a 'sex slave' during an 'horrific' summer in 1994.

The promise of a modeling career lured teen Katie Johnson to New York, she caimed

Johnson also alleged she was sexually abused by Epstein himself - a convicted pedophile - on two different occasions during the same summer.

Johnson claimed she was forced to perform sex acts on Epstein through threats of 'violence' to her and her family.

She told DailyMail.com about how she first came to jump on a Greyhound bus from small town Oklahoma to New York in a bid to pursue her dream of becoming a model. She was just 13.

She acknowledged in the interview that she had no idea who Donald Trump was at the time.

But she claims that she would never forget his face and it was only years later when Trump starred in The Apprentice that she recognized the man she says sexually assaulted her.

That may be the crucial flaw in her story.