Bad stuff always happens when our government cloaks itself in secrecy and doesn’t tell us what it is doing in our name. We get into wars and people die. Our money is stolen from us and assholes get rich. Our elected leaders break our laws with impunity, violate our trust and we are left with an impotent system. Bad stuff.
Opinion
A democratic society such as ours can only thrive in the bright sunlight of transparency. It only works as intended when the citizens know what their government is doing on their behalf.
When government keeps secrets from the people, that system cannot be called free. It is by definition something else entirely.
Take the Epstein files, for instance. The seedy nexus between a convicted sex offender and powerful politicians and celebrities has been fertile ground for conjecture for years. Our Department of Justice has investigated that nexus thoroughly and compiled hundreds of thousands of documents and photographs as evidence. But the DOJ has long kept those files embargoed from the public, leaving us to assume that powerful politicians are being protected by government secrecy.
Conspiracy theories have sprouted like mushrooms in all that darkness.
The burning question is not which rich, powerful men were canoodling with teenage girls on Epstein’s private seraglio island, but rather why our government, particularly the DOJ, refuses to release the information. This issue is best viewed not through a lens of titillating scandal among elites or partisan one-upsmanship, but rather through the clear lens of the public’s right to know.
To quell the supposition over the files and quench the conspiracy theories, Congress passed a bespoke law to force the DOJ to release the information by a certain date. House Resolution 4405, “The Epstein Files Transparency Act,” was passed by Congress and signed by President Trump on Nov. 19. It mandated that ALL Epstein files be released within 30 days.
The law also strictly limited what information could be redacted from the files. It specified that no information contained in the files could be withheld or redacted to protect politicians or other powerful people from embarrassment. Here is the pertinent section of the law: “No record shall be withheld, delayed, or redacted on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”
The only redactions allowed by law are to protect the privacy of victims or for purposes of national security. I think we can all agree that Epstein and his cronies were not on the island to discuss our military order of battle in the Mideast, the names of our spies on foreign soil or our plans to annex Greenland. National security was not the reason they were cavorting with middle school cheerleaders.
Yet, despite the specificity of the law, the DOJ barely beat the deadline and released only a fraction of the Epstein files to the public. And the tranche that was released was heavily redacted.
That means the U.S. Department of Justice, the nation’s highest law enforcement organization, defied both the president and Congress and broke the law. And they did so to keep hidden from the American people information that the executive and legislative branches of government ordered to be revealed.
Think, for a moment, about the lawlessness of that behavior by the DOJ. About the cynicism and hubris. If the top law enforcement agency in our government breaks the law to protect powerful elites, how can we call ourselves a nation under law?
It doesn’t matter one rat’s ass whose names are in the Epstein files, or to what party they belong. The law states that those names must be revealed to the public as a matter of transparency.
For DOJ bureaucrats to defy the law and keep secrets from us should piss us all off!
Trump can provide that transparency, if he wants to, with a phone call or the stroke of his pen. He can order Attorney General Pam Bondi to comply with the law. If she refuses, he can fire her and replace her with someone who will follow orders. Nixon proved, with his Saturday Night Massacre, that a president has that power.
The ball is in Trump’s court.
Among all the gripes we have about government — taxes, immigration, woke policies, ICE, National Guardsmen in our streets, blowing up Venezuelan “drug” boats, DEI and so many other legitimate complaints — government not trusting citizens enough to tell us the truth should outweigh them all.
Telling citizens the truth is, in my estimation, the most important job of government. Without that, we cannot be a free people. As Jesus said, in John 8:32, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Mr. Smith: Thank you for writing this. In your twelfth paragraph, you ask (perhaps rhetorically): “If the top law enforcement agency in our government breaks the law to protect powerful elites, how can we call ourselves a nation under law?”
Answer – We can’t.
Thank you for your focus on this very troubling issue. Unfortunately it is more of the same corruption, cruelty, criminality and cronyism we’ve come to expect from this administration.
Rod, thanks for the Christmas gift of candor. Merry Christmas to all truth tellers,
I’d like you to talk about “transparency” in Wyoming politics.
Let’s start with public lands management.
As usual Rod, you are right on the old money!
You know whats amazing Rod?
The Biden DOJ had this info for 4 years and did nothing, same as Trump.
Because they’re all involved, its bipartisan evil.
Or maybe you’re just one of them thar conspiracy theorists with your own ivermectin mine.
Chad you might want to actually study the concept of the “rule of law” which Republicans used to respect, but have thrown in the garbage along with their decency. The Biden Administration respected the rights of the accused, Ghislaine Maxwell, to get a fair trial and allowed all of her appeals to be exhausted, which extended past the Biden’s term. These patriotic actions are overlooked by those that are ill informed.
LOL, nice excuse. They literally threw everything but the kitchen sink at Trump. And when there is actual horrific CRIMES regarding minors, they hold back due to “rule of law”. Trump was accused of RAPING a 13 year old at Epsteins home, but lets go after him for inflating the value of his realestate for a loan.
Your response is completely ridiculous.
Political gymnastics and mental contortion to try and deny that DC is a Bipartisan cesspool.
Well said and spot on. Anything less is only gong to make that distrust grow.
I’d like you to talk about “transparency” in Wyoming politics.
Meh … convicted in 2008, killed in 2019. Wonder if those stupid files have ever been tinkered with? Add a few names here, delete some there … naww … impossible. What a bread and circus soap opera.
The last sentence says it all. Why as a nation and state are we unable to get some integrity into the system. Those who oppose someone’s beliefs are eager to bash the other. This starts at the top and filters down. The government owes it to citizens to provide transparency and the truth. Oh wait, if we knew the truth we would run screaming out of the room. That would not be productive to the status quo.
Thanks again for telling it like it is Rod. No BS is so refreshing in today’s world. Merry Christmas and may next year bring a better world.
Please run against Harriet Hageman.
Hmm….I cannot help but wonder why anyone would think Trump is capable of truth in any form. I believe it is dangerously naïve to think he would endorse/encourage truth unless it enriches or protects him or his political or personal favorites!
“But there’s a catch. Catch 22. They can do anything we can’t stop them from doing.”
J. Heller
What is the line from the film, A Few Good Men….Jack Nicholson to Tom Cruise. “You can’t handle the truth”
For many years we have watched politicians evade, deflect and lie. This translates down to the agencies that twist science and facts to pillage our National Forests and public lands. They appease, rather than manage the industries they are supposed to regulate resulting in polluted streams and groundwater, and destroyed wildlife habitat.
The Code of Ethics for Federal Emoloyees exists but apparently doesn’t matter.
I suspect predation on women is far more common in our culture than we thought, or wanted to admit, which is why so many men tolerate it , even do it, and women put up with it. Everyone who voted for Trump knew he,’d boasted about …well you know.abkut “grab”…but he won anyway. Won big in Wyoming twice,! And now everyone wants to know what his buddy, a long dead man did and with who. This is hypocrisy .
One of his best. Yet what can we do? trump owns the U.S. representatives, senate, supreme court and all 3 of Wyoming representatives and none of them will defy him. They are afraid of him. He has won. We will never know the names. If they don’t like a law they ignore it. Who will stop them? I will vote.
The “mob” is in control. When government officials are like puppets on a string, cowering in fear and marching in lock step like they are now, we are doomed.
“The ball is in Trump’s court”….correct, Rod, and this is why he’s not going to do it. Both himself and his cronies would be exposed as the junior high sex ring pedo’s. We all knew that the files would be heavily redacted and not to protect the victims but to shield the perps. Don’t worry, since the voters of WY are stupid enough to promote Harriet Hageman to the senate, she is going to set Trump straight and with her influence, will call for the total release without redaction
Trump ain’t going to incriminate himself or his supporters. He will pardon all criminals including sex offenders except some democrats that could draw criticism from himself . It will be entertaining watching Fox News affiliates sway public opinion.
America has become a very corrupt country. In the middle of all of this is a corrupt judiciary, including the Supreme Court. When you vote in 2026, keep in mind those that supported the felon in chief and all the lies that THEY were willing to tell. If you vote for them, you deserve what you get. One old adage that I know is true: Birds of a feather flock together. Merry Christmas.
Rod, you need a new tin foil hat, the one you’re wearing is too tight. Merry Christmas.
I agree, but also conclude “good luck”. Under this administration, deception, lies, and retaliation is the modus operandi.