A Kansas congressional candidate is going after Republican U.S. Rep. Derek Schmidt over how he handled a push to force a House vote on releasing more Jeffrey Epstein case documents. Don Coover, a Democrat seeking to unseat Schmidt in Kansas' 2nd District, says Schmidt should have signed a bipartisan discharge petition on the Epstein Files Transparency Act II rather than sitting it out.
According to the This is Topeka report on the dispute, Coover criticized Schmidt's refusal to help trigger a House vote on legislation seeking additional release of Epstein case documents. Coover urged Schmidt to join more than 200 Democrats and several Republicans who have supported the bill, and campaign spokesperson Lily Johnson said Schmidt stood behind “Washington insiders covering up Epstein files instead of supporting survivors of sexual abuse.” Johnson also said Coover would be a strong voice for Epstein survivors if elected.
Why the Discharge Petition Became a Flashpoint
The Epstein Files Transparency Act II was introduced as a response to the Justice Department's failure to fully comply with a 2025 law requiring disclosure of Epstein documents, per the same report. House sponsors announced the bill's discharge petition had reached the minimum 218 signatures needed to force floor action, bypassing normal committee procedure. Schmidt, who is a former Kansas attorney general elected to Congress in 2024, declined to sign that petition.
Schmidt said he objected to the discharge petition process itself, arguing lawmakers often use the maneuver to make Congress appear dysfunctional, and he said he has not signed a discharge petition on any subject since entering Congress. He said he prefers working with House leadership to schedule items for floor consideration, and he committed to voting on the legislation's merits regardless of how it reaches the floor. Schmidt said he would probably vote for the latest Epstein disclosure bill despite not signing the petition, and he said the Justice Department should release documents under the existing 2025 law rather than requiring another law — telling reporters he prefers that the department and Attorney General Todd Blanche fulfill obligations already on the books. Schmidt's congressional office did not respond to telephone and email requests for comment about the Epstein files, the report noted.
The Backdrop: A 427-1 Vote and Redacted Files
The original Epstein Files Transparency Act passed the House by a lopsided 427-1 vote and received unanimous Senate backing before President Donald Trump signed it into law in 2025 — a reversal for a president who had previously called the Epstein inquiry a hoax perpetrated by Democrats, and who had vowed during the 2024 presidential campaign to voluntarily comply with public demand to release government documents linked to the case. U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas signed the 2025 discharge petition tied to that initial bill, though Kansas' Republican House delegation did not join her in signing it.
Separately, PBS NewsHour reported that the House was expected to vote on a measure that would force the Justice Department to release its Epstein case files, and that Trump reversed course over the weekend before that vote, calling on House Republicans to support the bill. The second Epstein disclosure bill will likely reach the House floor after the November 3 election, according to the Topeka report.
Disclosure Fights Continue in Court and at the Justice Department
Epstein-related documents are said to total 6 million pages, and the Justice Department has released about half of that total so far, per the reporting on Coover and Schmidt's dispute. The department's own Epstein Library page says it houses materials responsive under the Epstein Files Transparency Act and that redactions of victim names and other identifying information have been applied; the department separately reported publishing 3.5 million responsive pages as of a December 2025 disclosure announcement. Critics have accused the Justice Department of heavily redacting the documents to hide the names of alleged associates.
The fight has also spilled into federal court and beyond Kansas. Epstein victims have accused Attorney General Todd Blanche of undermining Justice Department transparency, and U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan has threatened Blanche with civil contempt if the department fails to meet court deadlines. New Mexico has sued the department after it refused to release information relevant to a probe of alleged sex crimes at Epstein's ranch. The New York Times has reported that Trump's name appeared at least 38,000 times in government Epstein files, according to that outlet's review. Epstein died in his jail cell in 2019 while awaiting federal trial on sex-trafficking-of-minors charges.
Massie announced the current bill, H.R. 9694, on July 15, 2026; a September 15, 2026, entry also lists the bill. The House Clerk’s July 20 and August 31, 2026 records concern petitions on unrelated matters, not the Epstein disclosure effort. With the House vote pushed toward after Election Day, the disagreement between Coover and Schmidt over process versus outcome is likely to remain a talking point in Kansas' 2nd District race through November.
