One of the most infamous television moments in American history was when Geraldo Rivera hyped up the great reveal of Al Capone's vault. He drummed up excitement, and a record 30 million people tuned in to the syndicated special to watch the vault open up. The great reveal was a dud; the vault was empty, and Rivera found nothing.

That's what happened with the so-called Epstein files on Thursday. It got hyped up, the White House trotted out conservative influencers with special binders, and we got nothing new. In fact, not only did we not get anything new, butmost of the names released on the lists were already long known from previous Epstein revelations.

I'm fully aware that the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation claim there are more records. Attorney General Pam Bondi is investigating why the FBI never turned those files over to begin with, and the FBI is scrambling in return. As a result, there are supposed to be more files dropped.

Republican Representative Andy Ogles of Tennessee even offered legislation to punish anyone destroying Epstein records or evidence. And while that's a noble gesture, we're beyond that point now.

This spectacle, which was drummed up as Geraldo did many years ago, was a breach of trust and undermines the trauma endured by those Epstein abused. Trotting out a bunch of conservative influencers on social media to wave around binders of already public Epstein data is a disgrace.

Jefferey Epstein represents the very worst of the rot in politics, culture, and the realm of the most rich and powerful. His death is something no one in normal society accepts, regardless of the evidence brought forward, because it's another cop-out for a system that legitimized Epstein, protected him, and now appears to hide the evidence about him.

Nothing was revealed this week. Nothing. You don't have to believe me about it, check the New York Post: "Indeed, when the conservative social media personalities began live-streaming footage of the content after The Post's initial report, they revealed files that were long available in the public record — such as flight logs — and that all of the boldfaced names in the contact list already were known from prior disclosures."

When Geraldo opened the safe, he could at least claim to be doing something no one else had done. He was as surprised as anyone that there was nothing. The same cannot be said about the White House, Department of Justice, or FBI. They knew they were releasing an empty vault and did it anyway.

The morning of, White House counselor Alina Habba told Piers Morgan the Epstein list would be released, it was disturbing, and criminal actions would be taken. None of that was true. Not a single word. No actions will be taken based on what was released Thursday. 

However, the harm Epstein did to individuals and the society he conned and served continues to this day. I get that Epstein likely dealt with classified information and the people who moved those secrets internationally. 

We know Epstein had meetings with the CIA, told stories of being in intelligence circles, and may have been a part of an Israeli influence operation. And that's not including the dirt he seemed to have on the most powerful, from Bill Clinton on down. 

The point of releasing Epstein's dark secrets is to shine a line on and begin sanitizing the dirty underbelly of politics and power. No one believes Epstein killed himself because they look around and see the powerbrokers he served. If those people are innocent, let Epstein's dirt prove it. 

We know what Epstein did, how he abused and groomed women, and how he built a powerful and wealthy group to do the same. We can see the pictures with everyone, what they do, and who they do it with. This is one of those situations where the trial is the public - and there are no rights here. The public rightly believes everyone is guilty until proven innocent.

Whether actual legal action will result from releasing the Epstein files is a separate question. But releasing all the information publicly is the first step towards rebuilding trust in a system that has done everything from protecting Epstein to lying to the country that Joe Biden was competent to be president. 

Epstein was the moment when the veil got ripped apart, and everyone saw the world for what it was in a new, disgusting way. Denying his case files to the world and using classification to hide them only gives further fire that the system is corrupt. 

Stop playing games with influencers and disparaging the victims. Release the Epstein files, restore faith in the government, and start bringing some level of closure to the victims. It's not hard to see what needs to be done here, but getting the government to comply seems to be impossible.

Donald Trump is President, Pam Bondi is Attorney General, and Kash Patel is head of the FBI. They struck on their first chance to restore trust. We don't need another Al Capone vault.