John Hiner writes:

There is a force tearing at the fabric of America, and it has nothing to do with red or blue.

More accurately, it is a void – a black hole of unaccountability surrounding the horrors of Jeffrey Epstein’s network of recruiters, groomers and abusers of children.

You don’t need a political philosophy or a moral compass to know where to stand on this. The behavior was monstrous. Crimes were committed. Lives were shattered.

And yet, in the United States, the government’s appetite for full disclosure – for a complete accounting of who did what, and who enabled whom – appears strikingly weak. Other democratic nations have seen resignations, investigations, even criminal charges connected to the case.

Just today, King Charles’ brother, Andrew Mountbatten‑Windsor, was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office related to his ties to Epstein. He already had been stripped of his titles and removed from royal duties.

All of this is happening after only a partial release of FBI documents. That release came as President Donald Trump suggested it is “time for the country to get onto something else.”

But from the vantage point of a journalist – and, frankly, of any American who lived through Watergate, Iran‑Contra, Whitewater, and more – you don’t move on until the facts are laid bare.

That process may be slow, messy, imperfect and inevitably accused of being partisan. But accountability isn’t optional. It is the bedrock of public trust. [Continue reading…]