House Speaker Mike Johnson has claimed that President Donald Trump once provided information to the FBI about Jeffrey Epstein’s activities, a revelation that has renewed questions about Trump’s past relationship with the disgraced financier, as the Daily Mail reports.
Johnson’s remarks surfaced after Trump dismissed the Epstein controversy as a Democratic Party "hoax," setting off renewed debate about the handling of Epstein-related files and the former president’s role in the case.
The speaker made the comments in Congress after CNN’s Manu Raju pressed him on Trump’s repeated characterization of the Epstein scandal as a fabrication designed by Democrats. Johnson clarified that Trump was not dismissing Epstein’s crimes, but rather the way Democrats used the controversy politically.
“What Trump is referring to is the hoax that the Democrats are using to try to attack him,” Johnson said, emphasizing that Trump viewed Epstein’s actions as “a terrible, unspeakable evil.” Johnson also claimed that Trump had acted as an FBI informant in an effort to bring down Epstein.
Johnson further stated that Trump expelled Epstein from his Mar-a-Lago club after hearing early rumors. The speaker did not provide details about when Trump spoke to investigators or the nature of the information shared, leaving significant gaps in the timeline of Trump’s alleged cooperation.
Trump, however, has continued to dismiss the Epstein case as politically motivated. Speaking to reporters, he described the controversy as “a Democrat hoax that never ends,” insisting that documents had already been released and arguing the matter was irrelevant to his record in office.
Trump’s ties to Epstein have been a subject of public scrutiny for years. The two men were seen together at social gatherings in the late 1980s and 1990s, and photographs show Trump and his wife, Melania, alongside Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell at Mar-a-Lago in 2000.
Despite their documented social interactions, Trump has claimed that he distanced himself from Epstein well before Epstein’s 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges. Epstein died in August of that year at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan while awaiting trial.
The Department of Justice later ruled the death a suicide, concluding there was no client list connected to the case. That conclusion frustrated many within Trump’s political base, who believed he had promised to release all Epstein-related files during his administration.
Since Trump’s return to the White House in January, members of his own movement have increased calls for transparency. Some argue that Epstein-related documents, previously suggested to exist by Attorney General Pam Bondi, should be made public to restore trust in government investigations.
Trump’s supporters in the MAGA movement have expressed disappointment, claiming that the Department of Justice under his leadership failed to deliver on commitments to disclose Epstein’s network and connections. This dissatisfaction has fueled political rifts even within his base.
On Truth Social, Trump urged his followers not to focus on Epstein, stating that America should not “waste time and energy” on a figure he described as irrelevant. He framed the controversy as an attempt by “selfish people” to harm what he called a “perfect administration.”
The debate has also moved into Congress. Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat, has sponsored a bill to compel the Department of Justice to release Epstein-related documents. Notably, several Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep. Thomas Massie, have backed the legislation.
Massie has gone further by promoting a discharge petition that could force a vote within 30 days. To succeed, the effort requires 218 signatures, with the current tally only a handful short. This rare bipartisan alignment underscores how the Epstein case continues to transcend traditional party divides.
Johnson’s statements about Trump’s role as an informant add another layer of complexity to the ongoing calls for accountability. Whether or not those claims will spur further disclosure remains uncertain, but the controversy is unlikely to subside soon.