White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed on Tuesday that President Donald Trump was never an FBI informant in the case against sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Sunday that Trump worked with the FBI to bring Epstein down for his sex trafficking crimes against underage women, though he later walked these claims back. As Johnson’s claims raised speculations, Leavitt said during a press briefing that she can “affirm” that Trump was never an informant.
“Mike Johnson came out and said that the president was an FBI informant. Do you know what he meant by that if it is not true?” a reporter asked.
“I can affirm that is not true,” Leavitt said. “I think the speaker was referring to the fact that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago property for reasons the president has already discussed.”
WATCH:
Johnson said he did not use the “right terminology” and referred to Trump being helpful in law enforcement investigations surrounding Epstein. Trump said in late July that he removed Epstein from Mar-a-Lago in 2004 because the sex offender “stole” spa staffers, including then-17-year-old Virginia Giuffre, who said that Epstein’s partner Ghislaine Maxwell recruited her to perform sex acts.
The president previously stated that he ended his friendship with Epstein after the two had a falling out in 2004 over his purchase of a property in Palm Beach, Florida, according to The New York Times. Previous reports have also suggested that Trump banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago for making advances toward another member’s teenage daughter.
Maxwell told U.S. deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in July that she never witnessed Trump “in any inappropriate setting” and that he had been a “gentleman in all respects.” Epstein’s victims denied ever hearing or seeing Trump engage in any inappropriate or illegal behavior during a Sept. 3 interview with NBC News.
The House Oversight Committee received the Epstein “birthday book” on Monday which allegedly included a drawing of a naked woman created by Trump. The president and the White House maintained that Trump did not draw the picture or sign any birthday card.
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