I believe Trump gave up Epstein file release as a bargaining in passing the BBB.
You remind me of myself circa 2005. This was after I supported the invasion of Iraq because I believed there were WMDs that Saddam was about to give to terrorists. When they ended up finding no WMD there were all kinds of wild theories. I remember one that said the Bush admin knew where the WMD were but continued to keep them secret so other terrorists wouldn’t get ahold of them.
Eventually I realized that it was all a lie to manufacture consent.