Mike Johnson, the US House speaker, has backtracked after claiming that Donald Trump was an FBI informant working to take down the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Johnson made the baffling comment to reporters at the US Capitol on Thursday, but by Sunday his office had issued a statement walking it back.
Johnson's office said the speaker was merely reiterating what a victims' attorney had said, namely that Trump was the only person willing to help prosecutors expose Epstein more than a decade ago. The attorney, Brad Edwards, told reporters on Wednesday that Trump had assisted him in investigating claims against Epstein but did not say Trump had cooperated with law enforcement.
Johnson's original remark reportedly confused even Trump administration officials. The confusion comes amid a bipartisan push in the House to force a vote on legislation requiring the Justice Department to release all files related to Epstein. Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna are leading the effort, which Johnson has opposed.
Several Epstein victims spoke publicly at a press conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday urging lawmakers to support the legislation. The Trump administration has pledged to investigate Epstein's crimes, but victims' lawyers say they have heard nothing from the Justice Department. Trump previously promised to release a full list of Epstein's clients but now calls the matter a 'Democrat Epstein Hoax'.
Trump and Epstein were once friends but fell out around 2004, with Trump saying it was because Epstein stole workers from Mar-a-Lago. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.
