The publication of the Epstein files was intended to be a gesture of transparency, but is actually a media psychological disaster. The method behind it is not only disturbing, but possibly deliberately destructive.
Feb 11, 2026, 9:12 p.mFeb 11, 2026, 9:12 p.m
Anna Von Stefenelli / watson.de
When the US Department of Justice published millions of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein at the beginning of 2026, it was initially celebrated as a historic step in transparency. But the opposite is the case, as we now know.
An art installation in front of the Capitol shows Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein hand in hand.image: FR159526 AP / Jose Luis Magana
A promise from the presidential election campaign was formally fulfilled, with which US President Donald Trump won over voters. But the so-called Epstein files lack any structure and classification – and that goes against real information. Instead, PDF files with cryptic names like “EFTA01957432.pdf” are piled up on the US Department of Justice (DOJ) website.
If you want to understand what’s behind it, you have to search through each individual file manually. At the same time, uploaded documents were occasionally deleted without comment and later reposted, such as a photo with Donald Trump. Others were strangely blacked out, including faces in innocuous images.
The result: a lot of room for interpretation and confusion. The impression arises that this confusion could be intentional and experts back this up.
“Reptile Theory”: In criminal law it causes confusion and is forbidden
The Californian lawyer and litigator Daphne Delvaux, founder of the law firm Delvaux Law, recognizes in this type of publication a well-known psychological strategy from the courtroom: the “Reptile Theory”. In a viral thread on Threads, she explains:
“When the brain is flooded with horror, your system is hijacked by the primitive part of the brain.”
This tactic is actually prohibited in US criminal law. For good reason. The goal behind it: to gain control through psychological overload instead of convincing people with facts.
One of many documents in the Epstein files.image: AP / Jon Elswick
Delvaux explains that courts proceed with the greatest caution when dealing with incriminating material such as violence against children: “The judges control how and when something is shown. There are experts who contextualize. There is a system that is able to hold this content.”
In the case of the Epstein files, however, the opposite happened:
“Just a data tsunami that undermines the nervous system.”
Trump and Epstein: How chaos works systematically
According to Delvaux, two reactions to this approach can be observed. Both are in the interests of those who want to prevent enlightenment. The first: “You immerse yourself completely, feverishly searching for the truth, losing yourself in details until the topic consumes you.” The second: “You drop out completely because it’s too much, too complex, too overwhelming.”
In both cases, the strategists achieved their goal:
«Either you become part of their games or you give up. Either way, you win.”
Michael Butter, an American scholar and conspiracy research expert, also sees the publication method as a targeted tactic. In an interview with “Zeit” he says:
“The confusing publication of the Epstein files could have been calculated.”
Normally authorities would provide at least some kind of dossier or guide. This is missing here.
At the same time, he emphasizes: “I believe that the active circle of perpetrators around Epstein must have been relatively small, otherwise something would have leaked earlier.”
US President Trump and convicted criminal Epstein were in contact for years.image: imago images / zuma wire
Steve Bannon, Disinformation and the Method of Flooding
The flood of fragmented information follows a pattern that the right-wing US strategy consultant Steve Bannon once summed up:
“Flood the zone with shit.”
Bannon, former chief strategist for Donald Trump and co-founder of the ultra-right platform Breitbart News, openly described a political tactic: overloading the media and the public with so much content that any meaningful debate sinks into chaos.
Steve Bannon, former chief strategist for US President Trump.image: AP / Seth Wenig
In the Epstein case, the flood of information means that attention is focused on names like Angela Merkel, who appear in the files in completely irrelevant contexts. Bannon says: “The whole scandal is actually benefiting Trump at the moment: so much (…) is being published that the world public doesn’t know whether to be outraged about Prince Andrew, Mette-Marit or Elon Musk. Trump is becoming out of focus.”
Epstein files: Expert speaks of psychological warfare
“The nervous system can only process horror if it is sequenced, dosed and classified,” writes Delvaux. In this context, she speaks of “psychological guerrilla warfare”: the body is confronted with violence that is not controlled by the institutions. “So your body starts to process what the children couldn’t do and what these men never wanted to do.”
The symptoms: insomnia, irritability, anxiety, physical pain. Many mothers are particularly affected, says Delvaux, because their protective instincts are triggered. «You feel crazy. But you have a normal biological response to psychological warfare.”
Despite the supposedly thorough preparatory work by over 500 employees of the US Department of Justice, the system failed exactly where it should have protected: the victims. The documents contain uncensored nude images of Epstein victims. The names of several people suspected of being affected were also made public.
Some content was only removed after notification, with a delay of hours. The ministry emphasized that protecting the victims was the top priority. But the damage was done.
And the question remains why such a massive mass of data was made public at all, while crucial parts and names remain under wraps.
Trump in Epstein Files: Is the Justice Department protecting perpetrators?
Donald Trump is one of the names that appears frequently in the files. Of all people, he is the current US President who is also politically responsible for its publication. The Epstein Files Transparency Act, which he signed in November 2025 after massive pressure, requires the Justice Department to disclose.
The ministry officially declared that allegations against Trump contained in the files were “unfounded and false.” But the truth is also: In his second term, Trump deeply politicized the US Department of Justice by appointing close confidants and directly influencing investigations.
Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, is now accusing the Justice Department of a cover-up. According to the Guardian, Raskin was now one of the first MPs to view unredacted documents. This took place under the strictest conditions: on a protected government computer, without employees.
Jamie Raskin was able to view unredacted documents.Image: FR159526 AP
He describes what he saw as “mysterious redactions” of the names of the perpetrators. According to Raskin, Trump’s name appears “remarkably often” in the unredacted files, significantly more often than that of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has already come under international pressure.
According to Raskin, one of the documents contained a report about a conversation between Epstein’s lawyers and Trump’s legal team in 2009. In it, Trump is quoted as saying that although Epstein was not a member of his Mar-a-Lago club, he went in and out there. He was never asked to leave.
This account contradicts Trump’s later public statement that he had expelled Epstein following allegations of misconduct. In view of the publication, Raskin speaks of “blatant incompetence” – or of “a conscious attempt to intimidate victims”.