The broader failure is legislative. A bill that advertises sunlight but allows nearly anything to be shaded is not transparency; it is ritual. Critics argue for a firmer statute — minimal, clearly defined privacy protections; independent judicial review; genuine consequences for agencies that withhold. Opponents warn of constitutional overreach. Between those poles, nothing decisive happens. Epstein’s story endures because it exposes the shape of American deference — the way status blunts scrutiny, and how quickly our institutions ask for forgetfulness. The December files, thick with black ink, do not exonerate; they merely demonstrate that darkness can be administered bureaucratically.