The Epstein Files Trap: Why Partial Leaks Are Stoking Distrust

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Republicans Overseas UK chairman Greg Swenson warns that selective disclosures are weaponising secrecy—and disappointing everyone

By TRH World Desk

New Delhi, December 21, 2025 — The Epstein files were supposed to be a moment of reckoning. Instead, they have become a case study in managed transparency—and growing public frustration. Speaking to Times Radio, Republicans Overseas UK chairman Greg Swenson cut through the hype with a blunt assessment: what the world is seeing is not disclosure, but curation.

“They’re not in charge of releasing all the files,” Swenson said, pointing out that only fragments—barely one percent—have been made public. These were not accidental leaks. They were deliberate, selective, and politically timed. The result is predictable: both sides of the political aisle are trying to weaponise incomplete information, while ordinary citizens feel misled.

Swenson’s core argument is sobering. Even if everything were eventually released, expectations are wildly inflated. The reason is structural, not conspiratorial. Grand jury rules exist for a reason. Courts do not allow testimony to be released at will. Victims’ identities must be protected. And in many Epstein-linked cases, prosecutors never even reached the threshold for indictment—let alone conviction.

That reality is inconvenient for a public primed for bombshells. As Swenson notes, if grand juries themselves found insufficient evidence to indict, it is unlikely that document dumps—however dramatic—will suddenly reveal criminal clarity. The promise of “hidden names” and explosive proof may simply be an illusion sustained by partial leaks.

Ironically, this halfway disclosure is the worst of both worlds. By releasing just a sliver, authorities have inflamed suspicion without satisfying demands for transparency. People on all sides feel annoyed, manipulated, and distrustful of institutions that appear to speak in whispers rather than facts.

Swenson does not defend secrecy for secrecy’s sake. His frustration is evident. “I wish they would just release it and get it over with,” he admits. But he also acknowledges the legal and ethical constraints that make such a clean break impossible.

That is the real scandal of the Epstein files saga: not what may still be hidden, but how selective disclosure has turned transparency itself into a political weapon—leaving truth, once again, as collateral damage.