Donald Trump Was Informing on Epstein to FBI, Speaker of the House Claims

Donald Trump only interacted with Jeffrey Epstein 'cause he was informing on him to the FBI ... so says the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Speaker Mike Johnson defended the President's association with the convicted sex offender when speaking to reporters Friday ... explaining the President isn't calling Epstein's crimes a hoax -- he's saying Democrats have blown his involvement with the guy out of proportion.

Johnson then said, "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.”

Remember, Trump has maintained he kicked Epstein out of the private club because he was hiring workers away from Mar-a-Lago ... saying he gave Epstein a warning before tossing him permanently in the 2000s.

However, Speaker Johnson's clearly ascribing a different motivation to the act ... claiming President Trump heard tales of Epstein's depravity and kicked him to the curb.

People online are side-eyeing the FBI claim ... with some calling the administration's reluctance to release the files a "joke."

As you know ... members of the Trump administration promised to shed light on the Epstein files -- alluding to a list of names as far back as February, which was allegedly on Attorney General Pam Bondi's desk.

However, the administration reversed course earlier this summer ... claiming there's no comprehensive list -- and President Trump fired off at the media for focusing on the list instead of his accomplishments.