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In what appears to be an AI-generated meme spoofing the adverse global fallout of Operation Epic Fury, an acolyte is shown whispering into an attentive ear: “Mr President, the Iran war is getting so bad we may have to use the Epstein Files as a distraction.” Indeed, the danse macabre (dance of death) playing out in the West Asian theatre has begun eclipsing public memory of these files.

Those who have remained oblivious of this multi-nation scandal, might like to know – since December, 2025, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) has been publishing truckloads of records containing documents, emails, photos and videos that attest to the nefarious activities of – Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted child sex offender. Epstein himself died by suicide in prison, in 2019. 

But this piece is not about whose names have figured in these files or whose faces are recognisable in the photographs alongside survivors trafficked through his paedophile network. Nor is this write-up about how disinterested most of our own mass media (with a few honourable exceptions) has been about this issue, this side of the Atlantic.

This piece is about the lessons that can be picked up from America’s systemic response to the Epstein scandal – lawfully compelling transparency and protecting personal privacy in a balanced manner. 

The Epstein Files Transparency Act, 2025

After the devastating World War II, USA was one of the few countries which enacted a national law requiring the government, particularly the executive branch, to guarantee people access to information about its policies, actions and omissions. Yet, the Freedom of Information Act, 1966 (FOI Act, 1966) was not deemed adequate to compel the disclosure of the huge cache of Epstein files. Last November, the US Congress enacted a special law mandating time-bound disclosure of these files. 

Few among us know about the seminal contribution made by politicians of Indian origin to shaping the US’s institutional response to the Epstein scandal. Congressman Ro Khanna of the Democratic Party introduced the draft transparency legislation in the House of Representatives last year. He was born in Philadelphia in a Punjabi family which had migrated to the US during the late 1960s.

One of the 24 co-sponsors of this Bill is another Democrat member of the same House,  Shri Thanedar, born in Belagavi, Karnataka, who migrated to the USA in the late 1980s. Both of them have a long and distinguished record of accomplishments in academia and public service. Strangely, those who do not tire of crowing about the Indian diaspora’s accomplishments have been quite tepid in their reaction to the impact these Congressmen have had on transparent government in the US.

Salient features of EFTA

The Epstein Files Transparency Act (EFTA) is barely three pages long. Yet, this law has compelled the powerful DoJ to publish more than thirty lakh pages of information, within two months of enactment (the statutory deadline was 30 days). Journalists and researchers are digging into the online database to discover who had what kinds of relationship with Epstein or his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, currently serving a 20-year sentence for child sex-trafficking. All of this is in pursuit of the very public demand to hold to account those who treated the bodies of under-aged girls – children – as their playthings, with impunity.

Both offenders, Epstein and Maxwell, are named in the long title of this law. Its three-section-long text lists the categories of information that must be published, the manner of their publication and the grounds on which public access to sensitive information may be lawfully withheld. Mandatory disclosures cover records pertaining to all investigations, prosecutions and custodial matters involving the infamous duo, their travel records, customs and immigration documentation and even Epstein’s death-related records.

EFTA also requires the disclosure of all individuals including government officials, named or referenced in connection with Epstein’s criminal activities and corporate, non-profit and academic entities with known or even ‘alleged’ ties to his trafficking or financial networks. Additionally, the law mandates transparency of all actions concerning the destruction, alteration, misplacement or concealment of paper or........

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