House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has walked back a headline-grabbing claim that President Donald Trump acted as an “FBI informant” in the investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The statement, made just days earlier to reporters, was meant to frame Trump as a key figure in helping authorities take down Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
“He was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down,” Johnson had said, adding that Trump had “great sympathy for the women who suffered these unspeakable harms.”
But following swift public and political backlash, Johnson’s office has since tried to clarify the remark, saying he was merely “reiterating what the victims’ attorney said.”
In a statement to The Washington Post, Johnson’s office said: “The Speaker is reiterating what the victims’ attorney said, which is that Donald Trump—who kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago—was the only one more than a decade ago willing to help prosecutors expose Epstein for being a disgusting child predator.”
The move to backtrack comes as pressure mounts on lawmakers and the White House to bring greater transparency to the Epstein case, a case that continues to cast a long shadow over powerful figures—Trump among them.
A Shaky Narrative
Trump has long tried to distance himself from Epstein, despite a well-documented history of their close friendship. The two met in the late 1980s and were known to socialize, particularly at Mar-a-Lago. Their relationship reportedly soured in 2004 after a real estate dispute.
Trump has said he banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago after learning that Epstein ‘stole’ Mar-A-Lago employees.
Most recently, Trump dismissed renewed calls to release Epstein-related documents as a “Democrat hoax that never ends.”
When asked last week about Trump’s dismissal of the case as a hoax, Johnson attempted to thread a needle. “The president viewed it as a terrible, unspeakable evil,” he said, claiming Trump believed Democrats were using Epstein’s crimes as a political weapon against him—not that the crimes themselves were fake.
But even that defense fell flat. Critics pounced on the contradiction: Why paint Trump as a heroic informant trying to help the FBI, while he simultaneously labels the case a political “hoax”?
Victims’ Attorneys Speak Out
Brad Edwards, the attorney who has represented numerous Epstein victims, didn’t mince words when criticizing the president. Speaking outside the Capitol last week alongside survivors, Edwards accused Trump of turning his back on the victims.
“Now it seems like all of a sudden somebody is in his ear, and he’s not,” Edwards said.
Another attorney, Arick Fudali—who represents 11 Epstein survivors—praised the victims for taking matters into their own hands.
“I’m encouraged that this group of brave women is taking it upon themselves, since the government continues to fail them, to compile their own list of Epstein’s enablers and perhaps even co-abusers,” Fudali told NewsNation.
Documents Released, But Not Enough
Last week, the House Oversight Committee released over 30,000 pages of Epstein-related documents. Most of it, however, had already been made public, fueling accusations that the release was more symbolic than substantive.
That’s not cutting it for those demanding real answers. Momentum is building behind the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a bipartisan bill that would mandate the release of more documents tied to Epstein, his associates, and possible enablers.
So far, Trump’s name hasn’t appeared in any charges, but his attitude toward the investigation—and Johnson’s attempt to spin him as an informant—has only added fuel to a fire that refuses to die out.
Meanwhile, the White House released a statement saying that Trump had “always been committed to justice and transparency for these victims.”
But critics argue his recent statements say otherwise.
At best, Johnson’s “FBI informant” line was a clumsy attempt to rehab Trump’s image. At worst, it’s a glaring example of how political figures are still trying to massage the Epstein story for their own ends—while survivors are still waiting for real justice.
