Donald Trump very rarely loses control of his own story. But the Jeffrey Epstein saga is beyond his powers to quell.

It usually works the other way around, but the Epstein files furor now has the White House turned so inside-out that bewildered aides have been quietly reaching out to CNN for clarity over what on earth is going on in their own administration.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) told right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson that he supported the release of the Epstein files days after Trump’s Justice Department said the matter was effectively closed.

The cable news powerhouse has stopped covering the so-called Epstein files, but many other conservative media figures are still heavily scrutinizing the Trump administration’s handling of the situation.