House Speaker Mike Johnson has now reportedly sought to clarify remarks he made last week suggesting that President Donald Trump had served as an FBI informant in the Jeffrey Epstein case, walking back what had quickly become a headline-grabbing statement.
Johnson’s initial comments came during a CNN interview with Manu Raju on Friday, in which he said that Trump, long the subject of Democratic attacks seeking to link him to Epstein, had “been an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down.”
Johnson emphasized in the interview that the president has consistently rejected efforts to smear him with Epstein’s crimes, noting that Trump had described such attempts as a partisan “hoax.”
“What Trump is referring to is the hoax that the Democrats are using to try to attack him,” Johnson told CNN. “He has never said or suggested or implied—I’ve talked to him about this many times, many times. He is horrified. It’s been misrepresented. He’s not saying that what Epstein did is a hoax. It’s a terrible, unspeakable evil. He believes that himself. When he first heard the rumor, he kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago.”
Two days later, Johnson’s office issued a clarification, making clear that his intent was not to describe Trump as a formal FBI informant but rather to underline his past willingness to assist in efforts to expose Epstein. “The Speaker is reiterating what the victims’ attorney said,” the statement read, “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 clarification came amid a renewed wave of public interest in the Epstein case. The Department of Justice, under Attorney General Pam Bondi, recently concluded that the long-rumored list of Epstein clients “did not actually exist.” Bondi herself had previously said the list was on her desk, which fueled speculation about possible cover-ups.
Trump has dismissed those rumors as politically motivated, part of what he calls a broader campaign by Democrats to tarnish him through association. He has repeatedly characterized attempts to tie him to Epstein as baseless and “a hoax.”
In distancing himself from the disgraced financier, Trump has pointed out that he severed ties with Epstein years ago, ejecting him from his Mar-a-Lago resort after hearing disturbing rumors.
Epstein’s crimes, including his conviction for sex trafficking, remain a dark stain in recent American memory. Yet as Johnson’s comments and subsequent clarification illustrate, the political battles surrounding Epstein’s legacy continue to reverberate in Washington.
The episode is also a reminder of how quickly narratives can shift. Trump’s critics have long tried to conflate association with complicity, despite evidence showing that he cut ties with Epstein and, according to Johnson’s office, provided cooperation in exposing him.
Johnson’s clarification ultimately reinforced that point, highlighting Trump’s willingness to act when others stayed silent. “It’s a terrible, unspeakable evil,” Johnson had said of Epstein’s crimes. “He believes that himself.”
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