From NYT article:

> the C.I.A.’s standard practice is to release them only after about 40 years, to ensure no sources are compromised and minimize any potential tension with allies.

So this was released much earlier than usual and that might be why it's more aggressively redacted

> fully public after like 20 years unless releasing it would put a specific person or named group in danger

As the recent AI safety discourse should make clear, the set of information that potentially endangers people could be much broader than you'd naively expect.

"the things they said" could very well reveal their identity.

There is an automatic declassification system with a 25 year clock but it’s a bit more restrictive than what you propose. That said we have a cornucopia of classified info from the Cold War era available today and that has had significant academic value.

> I think there should be a law that any info is fully public after like 20 years unless releasing it would put a specific person or named group in danger

They don't even release files about human trafficking rings (epstein). Pretty sure what you are suggesting is impossible.

From the outside, it even looks like Trump attacked Iran because of the epstein files. The war is causing more deaths and terror. And it is causing economic problems worldwide. Pretty sure US government legitimacy is at the lowest point in my lifetime.