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A month after the deadline for the release of the Epstein files, the findings of a recent CNN poll shouldn’t be surprising to anyone: Americans still largely believe the government is intentionally withholding information. This isn’t just a hunch or a suspicion; it’s a conclusion drawn from the visible actions – or rather, inactions – surrounding the release of these files. The very premise of the poll, using words such as “think” is a misnomer; the evidence is so clear that people *know* the information is being held back.
The evidence for this widespread belief is overwhelming. We’ve seen a series of events, starting long before the official deadline, that have fueled public distrust. The promises to release the files, followed by shifting narratives and delays, set the stage. There were claims that the files were under review, then that they didn’t exist, and finally, even suggestions that releasing them would endanger lives. The repeated changes in stance, coupled with the heavy redactions in the initial release, have reinforced the perception of a deliberate cover-up. There have been allegations of the FBI using their resources to specifically filter out mentions of specific people in the files, coupled with new, incriminating evidence being released in the press.
The maneuvering around the files has been nothing short of blatant. The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to compel the release, only to have the Senate seemingly follow suit, and yet, the files remained locked away. The legal arguments the government is using sound quite ludicrous, with the argument essentially amounting to “We’re just not going to release them, even though you told us to.” It’s not just that the files haven’t been released; it’s the *way* they haven’t been released. The repeated stalling tactics, the lack of transparency, and the excuses offered all point to a concerted effort to keep the truth from coming out.
The content released has been heavily redacted, and the small amount that has been made public has largely confirmed the public’s fears. The fact that the first release contained numerous blanked-out pages and heavily redacted photos, especially while any mention of certain people of certain parties, really did nothing to inspire confidence. This is not the behavior of a government committed to transparency; it is the behavior of a government trying to protect powerful individuals. The government has also used any number of recent events and foreign affairs as a distraction from the case, to allow the public to focus on other matters of importance.
It’s not just about the content of the files; it’s also about who’s implicated. If the files contained only information that would have damaged specific people, or people from a certain party, there’s no reason to believe that the government would have stalled in releasing them. The perception, therefore, is that the government is protecting powerful individuals with ties to specific factions within the political sphere. The political rhetoric further confirms this belief.
The implications of this situation are far-reaching. The public’s distrust of government is at an all-time high, and it’s easy to see why. When the government appears to be protecting those who have done wrong, it erodes the foundations of democracy. The feeling of being intentionally misled can have a corrosive effect on the public’s faith in the institutions of power.
The very fact that a poll was needed, to ask if Americans felt this way, is somewhat insulting. The conclusion is not based on conjecture; it’s based on observable facts. The government has failed to release the files, has issued a litany of excuses, and has heavily redacted what little has been released. The headline, “Americans ‘think’ the government is intentionally withholding information” is inadequate. The correct headline should be “Americans *know* the government is intentionally withholding information.” The repeated use of the word “think” completely downplays what has become an indisputable fact for the vast majority. It’s not a matter of belief; it’s a matter of evidence. This is not about opinion or conjecture; it’s about the verifiable reality of the situation.