NEW: Speaker Mike Johnson says Trump was FBI informant in Epstein case

Johnson later walked back the comments. Johnson's office told the Washington Post that "The Speaker is 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."

"He's not saying that what Epstein did was a hoax," Johnson said. "It's a terrible, unspeakable evil. He belived that himself when he first heard the rumor, he kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago, he was an FBI informant to try to take this stuff down."

"The President knows and has great sympathy for the women who suffered these unspeakable harms. It's detestable to him. He and I have spoken about it as recently as 24 hours ago," Johnson said.

President Donald Trump has been accused by Democrats recently of attempting to cover up Epstein's crimes and of having been part of his circle. Trump has denied the claims and over the years, nothing has been revealed to indicate that Trump was responsible for any wrongdoing regarding Epstein or his crimes.

Trump had Epstein removed from Mar-a-Lago in around 2007, issuing him a lifetime ban.

Some members of Congress have been seeking more information from the Department of Justice about what was known about Epstein and his associated. Just recently, Congress released over 33,000 pages of documents pertaining to that matter.

Alleged victims of Epstein were part of a press conference on the steps of the Capitol, where they indicated that they would put together their own list of people who they knew were associates of Epstein. A recent interview with Epstein pal Ghislaine Maxwell in a Tallahassee prison revealed that she did not believe Trump was involved in anything nefarious with Epstein.

Maxwell is serving 20 years in prison for trafficking of underage girls to Epstein for sexual gratification. She has since been moved to a facility in Texas.

This article has been updated to reflect comments from the Speaker following the comments he made to CNN.