India, Jan. 25 -- A limited release of documents exposes how Trump and Western institutions draw the line between openness and self-protection. When US President Donald Trump campaigned on releasing the Epstein files, the promise was framed as an act of rupture, a break from a political system he claimed was dominated by elites hiding the truth from the public. Transparency, Trump argued, would expose corruption and restore trust in American institutions.

Instead, the limited and chaotic document release now underway has produced the opposite effect. A partial document release marked by heavy redactions, missing context, and undefined timelines has reinforced the perception that secrecy remains the default posture of power in Washington....