Epstein File Release Is A Matter Of Trust
- Charles I. Guarria
- Nov 18, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Jan 20
Update: The deadline to release the Epstein files was Dec. 19, 2025. More than a month later, the Department of Justice has released less than one percent of the documents.
U.S. Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi wrote the following in a Jan. 15, 2026, memo addressed to Richard M. Berman and Paul A. Engelmayer, the judges overseeing the court-ordered document release.
"The Department has made substantial progress and remains focused on releasing materials under the Act promptly while protecting victim privacy… The Department continues to work with counsel for victims, and indeed victims themselves, to identify and refine the Department’s review procedures and to identify and redact victim-identifying information… Department is working to complete this review as expeditiously as possible without compromising victims’ privacy so that its production can be complete.
Co-sponsors of the Epstein Files Transparency Act, Representatives Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna, commented.
Rep. Massi, Jan. 18 X account: “Why is this administration working harder to hide the Epstein files than prior administrations did to cover up Iran-Contra and Watergate?”
Rep. Ro Khanna in a news release dated Jan. 19: "The DOJ’s failure to release the full files is a betrayal of the survivors and a flagrant violation of the law."
Trust in the U.S. federal government is fading as the decades go by. According to the Pew Research Center, in 1958, when the National Election Study first asked the U.S. citizenry if they trusted the federal government to do the right thing almost always or most of the time, 73% responded that they did.
However, since 2007, "The shares saying they can trust the government always or most of the time have never been higher than 30%," the Pew Research Center reported.
Many believe the end of trusting the federal government began in 1960 when President Eisenhower lied about a U.S. spy plane being shot down by the Soviet Union. He said it was a weather balloon. The Soviets said spy plane, then proved they were the truth-tellers by trotting out the plane's pilot.
Of more recent vintage were all the lies swirling around the Covid vaccine when the U.S. federal government said the vaccine was safe for all, yet the U.S. Food & Drug Administration wanted 75 years to release the Pfizer/BioNTech data that would back the safe for all claim.
And now, we the people are getting Epstein file delays, which further erode the small base of trust some citizens are clinging to like a baby clings to a binky.
When the House of Representatives and Senate sent the Epstein Files Transparency Act to President Trump, he agreed to sign it, only to have the New York Times report that the Act has "major loopholes" and Trump's signature "does not guarantee the release of all the files."
Sure, releasing all the files with no redactions would lead to salaciousness as high-profile people are outed as pedophiles. Plus, the Democratic and Republican parties would spin the details of those files to knock political opponents.
Save but for very few people, the heart of the matter isn't political theater, nor who was involved in the horrific act of child sex trafficking
The heart of the matter is trust in a government that abandoned the notion that they are accountable to the people.
In regard to the Epstein files, the people who are supposed to serve U.S. citizens are not serving U.S. citizens. Jeffrey Epstein was arrested in 2019 during the Biden administration. He, or his puppeteers, don't get a pass here. They could have released these documents as well.
It is easy to think that the cover-up is on or, once again, the federal government is saying to the people whom they work for, "You can't be trusted with the truth."
If the files don't get released or are heavily redacted when released, then the trust people have in the government will continue to spiral downward, leading to many more citizens checking out and/or a political revolution involving a third party that will move past one, if not both, of the two major parties.
U.S. elected officials need to release the documents. Need to show faith that the people they serve can be trusted with the whole truth and dispel the notion of a cover-up.
Charles I. Guarria is an author, reporter and host based in the state of Florida, USA, covering any topic, anywhere in the world. His career began in 2009. Mr. Guarria is a three-time winner of Emerald Group Publishing’s Highly Commended Award and host of The Opinion Guy Fun Friendly Informative. He is available for hire to write, research, or beta-read.
Check the online show, The Opinion Guy Fun Friendly Informative for news, sports, music and art coverage.
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