WASHINGTON ‒ Overwhelming votes in both chambers of Congress directing the Justice Department to release the full files from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation sent a clear message: Make it all public.

Yet there's reason to doubt all the information collected by the federal government during its investigation into the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender will see the light of day despite the House and Senate both voting for its release.

Here's why the complete Epstein documents still might not come out even when President Donald Trump signs the Epstein Files Transparency Act, as he said he would.

Trump's newly announced Epstein investigations

Two days before Trump changed his tune by calling for House Republicans to vote to release the Epstein files, the president ordered the Justice Department to investigate Democrats linked to Epstein, who died by suicide in a federal prison in 2019.

Trump singled out former President Bill Clinton, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, as well as JPMorgan Chase, as subjects of investigations.

Under the Epstein files bill, the Justice Document would be able to withhold documents that "would jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary."

Ty Cobb, a former White House lawyer in the first Trump term, said he believes Trump's sudden turnabout in favor of releasing the Epstein files is a "canard." Cobb said he believes that Attorney General Pam Bondi will cite the ongoing investigations as a reason not to release them.

"I think he and Bondi have determined that they'll try to use Trump-ordered 'investigations' of Democrats ‒ but not Republicans, as he stated ‒ as a bar to producing anything," Cobb said in an interview on CNN. "I think it'll be a long time before we see anything, although there are certain documents that could be easily produced."

It's unclear when the bill, which the Senate passed by unanimous content, will reach Trump's desk for his signature.

Trump changed his position on the bill after it became clear enough Republicans backed the measure for its passage.

If Trump wanted to release the Epstein files immediately, he could order the Justice Department to do so. Asked by an ABC News reporter on Nov. 18 why he hasn't, the president snapped at the reporter and suggested ABC's broadcasting license should be revoked.

Trump and Epstein were friends during the 1990s and early 2000s before the two men had a falling out. Emails from Epstein released last week by the Republican-led House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and separately by House Democrats, mentioned Trump by name.

In one of them, Epstein wrote of Trump, "I am the one able to take him down." Epstein, in other emails released by House Democrats, said Trump "spent hours at my house" with one of Epstein's victims and allegedly "knew about the girls."

Asked by reporters Nov. 14 aboard Air Force One what Epstein meant by the comment, Trump said, “I know nothing about that.”

Protecting Epstein victims

The legislation also contains language permitting Bondi to withhold records that could violate the rights of Epstein victims.

This includes personally identifiable information that reveals the names of victims or materials that depict or contain child abuse.

The Justice Department has said Epstein had more than 1,000 victims. Some have led the public push for the government to release all the Epstein documents.

The Trump administration previously cited the sensitive nature of the materials when the DOJ and FBI announced in July it would not be releasing the full Epstein files. The agencies said the records included large volumes of images of Epstein and victims who were minors or appeared to be minors and more than 10,000 videos and images of illegal child sex abuse material and other pornography.

Prior to the House vote, Johnson said he spoke with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, about adding an amendment to the Senate version of the bill to address concerns about revealing victims' identities.

Ultimately, no amendments were made to the bill, however.

Trump's history of ignoring Congress

During his second term in the White House, Trump has routinely ignored laws passed by Congress when it comes to funding federal programs and agencies.

Although Trump vowed he would sign the bill into law if Congress passes it, his track record of asserting executive power raises questions how closely his administration would follow the directive.

Trump has clashed with Democrats in Congress over how federal money is spent. The president has sought to eliminate the Department of Education, even though Congress established the department by law. He did the same to the U.S Agency for International Development and worked to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Nevertheless, outright ignoring a bill passed by Congress – one that he signs – would be his most blatant defiance yet and a complete flip from his sudden new position.

Grand jury records are blocked

Even if certain Epstein documents are released by the Justice Department, records from the grand jury that indicted Epstein on sex trafficking charges would not be included in any handover of documents.

A New York federal judge in August became the third judge to deny the Justice Department's bid to unseal these records, whose secrecy is protected by law.

Evidence heard by grand juries, which operate behind closed doors to consider indictments, cannot be released without the approval of judges. The Justice Department's evidence presented to the grand jury in the Epstein case was never made public because Epstein died in 2019 as he awaited trial.

Still, U.S. District Judge Richard Berman said the grand jury records aren't close to the volume of records in possession of the government. "The Government's 100,000 pages of Epstein files and materials dwarf the 70 odd pages of Epstein grand jury materials," Berman wrote in his decision. "The grand jury testimony is merely a hearsay snippet of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged conduct."

This story has been updated with more information.

Contributing: Zac Anderson, USA TODAY and Reuters

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why all the Epstein files may not come out even though Congress took action

Reporting by Joey Garrison, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect