In response to Andrew Taban’s Feb. 17, 2026, opinion questioning the “silence” of conservatives, parents at school board meetings, and groups like Moms for Liberty regarding the Epstein files.
On Oct. 10, 2025, I wrote about this issue with a clear purpose: justice for victims through institutional accountability — not partisan theater. My position then, and now, is that transparency must occur within the law and across administrations. Epstein did not operate under one president or one party. His network spanned decades and political affiliations. Ignoring that reality oversimplifies a systemic failure.
Mr. Taban equates silence with apathy. That assumption reflects a misunderstanding of the legal complexities involved.
I am not shouting, because I understand the difference between sealed court records, protected grand jury material, classified intelligence, and evidence shielded for victim privacy. Federal Rule 6(e) is not a talking point — it is binding law. Court orders are not optional. Ongoing investigations and survivor protections are not obstacles; they are safeguards.
Remaining measured is not indifference. It is discipline.
Parents who have spoken passionately at school board meetings understand something fundamental: When confronting entrenched power — political elites, financial networks and institutional actors — timing and accuracy matter. Reckless rhetoric can undermine legitimate accountability efforts and reduce serious criminal matters to partisan spectacle.
Silence, in this context, is not ignorance. It reflects sense and awareness that the legal system moves deliberately, and that premature political framing risks harming or undermining victims and jeopardizing prosecutions. A truly victim-centered approach needs at least five things: nonpartisan responsibility; lawful judicial unsealing of records; strict protection of survivor privacy; oversight reform; and structural safeguards to prevent recurrence. Anything less risks turning survivors into puppets of political disparity.
If justice is the goal, then it must apply across administrations and parties. It must confront in full institutional failure, not selectively. It must proceed with legal accuracy, and not rhetorical volume.
Nancy Fairbanks
Valencia
