After outing Trump as an ‘FBI informant’ on Epstein case, House Speaker Mike Johnson tries to explain himself
House Speaker Mike Johnson has walked back his head-scratching statement that Donald Trump was an “FBI “informant” against Jeffrey Epstein after the Louisiana Republican was pressed on the president’s claim that the case against the sex offender is a “Democrat hoax.”
Last week, after members of Congress heard testimony from Epstein’s accusers, Johnson told reporters that the president’s repeated claims have been “misrepresented.”
“He’s not saying what Epstein did was a hoax. It’s a terrible, unspeakable evil, and he believes that himself,” Johnson said on Capitol Hill on September 5.
“When he first heard the rumor, he kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago. He was an informant to try to take this stuff down,” he added. “The president knows and has great sympathy for the women who have suffered these unspeakable harms. It’s detestable to him … What he’s talking about is the Democrats who are doing this with impure moments.”
On Monday, Johnson’s office sought to clarify his remarks.
“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,” a spokesperson told The Independent.
Epstein’s death in jail while awaiting trial on trafficking charges has fueled ongoing conspiracy theories of a government-wide cover-up to protect powerful public figures who exploited and abused young girls.
Trump and Epstein allegedly had a falling out in 2004 over a property dispute in Palm Beach, Florida, though Trump has recently stated that he had kicked Epstein out of his club for hiring workers away from him.
Trump, whose friendship with Epstein spanned more than a decade, insists that the public and press should move on from questions about the case. The Department of Justice stated earlier this year that there is “no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials” despite demands for a full accounting of Epstein’s death and alleged ties to a wider child trafficking conspiracy.
Officials determined that “no further disclosure would be appropriate or warranted.”
Democratic members of Congress and a small group of Republicans have pushed for legislation that would pressure the Trump administration to release more documents about Epstein and his trafficking case,.
Several Epstein accusers provided lawmakers with emotional testimony last week alleging the years of abuse they suffered under the financier and his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence after her conviction on sex trafficking charges tied to his crimes.
Brad Edwards, an attorney who represents many of the women, told reporters that Trump has done an “about-face” on Epstein since 2009. At the time, Trump “did not think that it was a hoax and was trying to help,” according to Edwards.
“And now it seems like all of a sudden somebody is in his ear, and he’s not,” he added. “So I’m hoping he’ll come back to where he was back in 2009, be on the side of the victims and stand with us.”
