Journalism of Courage

Mike Johnson walks back on ‘Trump being FBI informant in Jeffrey Epstein case’ claim, says he misspoke

Johnson had created quite an uproar on Thursday after he claimed that Trump was an FBI informant “trying to take this down.”

By: Express Web Desk
Updated: September 9, 2025 01:38 AM IST

3 min read

Mike Johnson walks back on ‘Trump being FBI informant in Jeffrey Epstein case

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks to reporters on the Jeffrey Epstein investigation and funding for the government, as Congress begins its workweek at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Sept. 8, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday that he didn’t mean to suggest in a recent interview that Trump had or had not been an FBI informant in the case against disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

“I don’t know if I used the right word,” Johnson said. “I said FBI informant. I’m not sure — I wasn’t there. This isn’t my lane. I’m just repeating what is common knowledge and has been out in the public for a long time: President Trump was never a hindrance to the Epstein investigation. He was trying to assist in that.”

Johnson’s FBI informant shocker

Johnson had created quite an uproar on Thursday after he claimed that Trump was an FBI informant “trying to take this down.” “The president knows and has great sympathy for the women who suffered these unspeakable harms. It is detestable to him. We spoke about this as recently as 24 hours ago,” he said

House Speaker Mike Johnson of La., listens as President Donald Trump speaks at a dinner in the Rose Garden of the White House, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Johnson also said that Trump was not saying what “Epstein did is a hoax,” and that the POTUS believed that what Epstein did was “a terrible, unspeakable evil”.

A spokesman for the speaker’s office later said in a statement that Johnson was “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.”

Johnson, a Republican, has been under fire from Democrats and even some fellow GOP lawmakers for his attempts to obstruct a vote that could force the release of full Epstein files.

House Oversight Committee get Epstein’s Birthday Book

Meanwhile, the House Oversight Committee has obtained the “infamous ‘Birthday Book’ that contains a note from President Trump that he has said does not exist,” the committee’s top Democrat said Monday.

Story continues below this ad

“It’s time for the President to tell us the truth about what he knew and release all the Epstein files. The American people are demanding answers,” Rep. Robert Garcia, of California, said in a statement.

Democrats on the committee posted a picture on social media of an alleged birthday message Trump left for Epstein in the birthday book. Trump has strenuously denied the existence of such a page and filed a lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and its owner, the billionaire Rupert Murdoch, over a report that described such a page in detail.

“Oversight Democrats are now carefully reviewing the contents of the book and additional documents to determine the full extent of the implications, and we expect to release our findings to the public. No matter who you are, how powerful, wealthy, or well-connected you may be, if you are involved in the abuse of young women and girls, or are implicated in any of the files we receive, you will be held accountable,” Garcia wrote.

From the homepage