They will never release them. The distraction will morph into all the electoral subterfuge they will attempt as they increasingly fear losing power at the polls. They know what's in those files and what will happen to them if they lose in 2028. Thus they will be even more incentivized to behave badly.

If gas prices double from here it will be less stupid distraction and more overt authoritarianism... the ICE question has not been settled. ICE is still violating your neighbors and making a mockery of what is supposed to be a society of free people. They merely thought the overt city takeovers and shooting Americans in the head had become a bad look that wasn't worth it politically. The persistence of this calculus is not inevitable.

That actually wouldn't be a distraction.

More than anything, that's the one thing that they want to avoid. That's something that's radicalized at least one person into doing something rash and could radicalize more.

The distraction is not releasing them. If there was enough shit in the files for a conviction, the previous administration would have prosecuted. They were sealed from the public not from the DOJ.

The reality is that there's no shortage of dirt in them (that likely doesn't pile up to guilt beyond a reasonable doubt), but his base doesn't care, and will never care.