House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) isn’t backing down from one of the strangest claims to come out of Trump’s second term: that Donald Trump was an FBI informant on Jeffrey Epstein.

In a CNN interview and in comments to reporters, Johnson insisted Trump thought Epstein’s crimes were a “terrible, unspeakable evil” and had been “misrepresented” in the controversy over the still-secret files. Johnson went further: “He was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down” (Independent).

From Bombshell to Backpedal

The “informant” line has ricocheted across Washington. Trump’s own aides told Rolling Stone they were blindsided, asking: “What the hell is he doing?” By Sunday, Johnson’s staff was already trying to walk it back in statements to Washington Post, reframing Trump as merely “helpful” to lawyers in 2009 — not a federal snitch.

But Johnson himself has kept repeating it, blurring the line between spin, freelancing, and fantasy.

The Client List That Won’t Die

Part of the controversy stems from Attorney General Pam Bondi’s claim earlier this year that she had a “client list” on her desk. The Wall Street Journal later reported Bondi privately told Trump his name appeared multiple times on that list. The DOJ has since insisted no such list exists.

Meanwhile, survivors and lawmakers are pushing the Epstein Files Transparency Act, a bipartisan petition that would force the administration to release all unclassified documents on Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) said, “Less than one percent of those files have been released.” Survivors, including Haley Robson, are adamant: “This is not a hoax. This is real trauma.”

MAGA Civil War Over Transparency

Even some of Trump’s most loyal boosters — Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson — are siding with the victims, calling for full disclosure. That puts them at odds with Trump, who last week dismissed the Epstein scandal as a “Democrat hoax.”

It’s a striking about-face: in 2019, Trump speculated Epstein had been murdered and demanded an investigation. Now he shrugs off demands for accountability as “irrelevant.”

Johnson wanted to cast Trump as the white knight in the Epstein saga — the insider who quietly helped take down a predator. Instead, he’s left the White House confused, survivors furious, and his own credibility in shreds.

The victims are still waiting for transparency. Washington is still waiting for clarity. And Trump? He’s just waiting for everyone to stop asking questions.

Sources

• Independent: Donald Trump was an FBI ‘informant’ on Jeffrey Epstein, Republican Mike Johnson claims
• Washington Post: Johnson backs off claim that Trump was an ‘FBI informant’ in Epstein case
• Rolling Stone: ‘What the Hell?’ House Speaker Confuses White House With Claim Trump Was an FBI Snitch