U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of Johnson County has donated money equal to the amount given to her campaign years ago from a donor whose name now appears in the recently released Epstein files.

Davids, who first ran for the seat representing Kansas’ Third Congressional District, which includes Johnson County, in 2018, received two direct campaign contributions from Dana Chasin, a political operative who has been active in Democratic Party circles for decades.

The combined donations, given in 2018 and 2022, total $4,250.

A Davids spokesperson said the campaign recently donated that amount to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, after it was first reported that Chasin’s name appears in the Epstein files.

“Rep. Davids unequivocally condemns the horrific crimes committed by Epstein and anyone involved in or connected to the exploitation or trafficking of minors,” the statement from Davids’ camp said.

Chasin is named in a 2024 email that was included in a recent tranche of millions of documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice in relation to investigations into disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Last year, Congress passed a law requiring the Justice Department to release the files.

The email naming Chasin was sent to a U.S. Department of Justice attorney by a private attorney representing an unnamed young woman. It alleges that Chasin helped transport the young woman to Epstein’s New York City townhouse via a private plane, and may have been present for a subsequent flight.

Possible sexual abuse is mentioned in the email, potentially involving minors, though Chasin is not directly accused of any sexual misconduct, nor has he been charged with a crime.

Chasin donated to Davids at least twice

Davids’ campaign received $1,350 from Chasin in September 2018, as part of her initial run for Congress in which she defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder. She later received another $2,900 donation from Chasin in October 2022.

Both donations came long before the full Epstein files were released and made up a tiny fraction of her total donations in those years. Davids raised around $4.9 million in 2018 and $7.9 million in 2022, according to campaign finance reports.

Additionally, each time Chasin contributed to Davids’ campaign, it was on a day or within a multiday window in which Chasin gave to multiple candidates seeking federal office, according to Federal Election Commission campaign contribution reports.

A spokesperson for Davids’ office said her campaign had given an equivalent donation to a national child protection charity when they first learned of Chasin’s appearance in the Epstein files through a Politico article published Feb. 10.

“At the time the contributions were made, Rep. Davids, her campaign, and the broader public were unaware of any involvement between Dana Chasin and Jeffrey Epstein,” said Zac Donley, Davids’ spokesperson, in a written statement. “Upon learning of the allegations, the campaign donated the full amount to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.”

Other candidates for federal office have also taken steps to disavow any connection to Chasin, including Independent Nebraska Senate candidate Don Osborn, who canceled a fundraiser last week that was going to be co-hosted by Chasin.

Chasin has ties to Democratic Party

Chasin, who has ties to the extended Rockefeller family, previously worked for U.S. Sen. Jon Tester of Montana and was also an adviser to the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign in 2016.

He is named the principal of a political advocacy firm called 20/20 Vision, and began donating to Democratic candidates in the mid-1990s.

Since 2015, he has given a combined $1.6 million to candidates, causes, PACs, left-leaning organizations and Democratic Party-affiliated groups, according to Federal Election Commission campaign contribution reports.

He also gave money with some regularity to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, both of which recruit and support candidates for both chambers of Congress.

Another JoCo Democrat received donations from Chasin

Barbara Bollier, a former state senator from Mission Hills who ran for U.S. Senate in 2020, also received a campaign donation from Chasin.

He contributed $2,800 to her campaign in August 2020. For comparison, she raised $29 million in 2020 in her ultimately unsuccessful senatorial run against Roger Marshall.

Bollier, like Davids, disavowed the contributions from Chasin.

“Without the release of the Epstein files, I had no way to know this information at the time of the donation. I condemn the actions of ALL those involved with these crimes against women and children,” she said in an emailed statement to the Post.

Before her run for U.S. Senate in 2020, Bollier, a physician, was a member of the Kansas Senate, when she switched her party affiliation from Republican to Democratic. In the lead-up to that decision, Bollier was growing increasingly at odds with the leadership of her party in the Kansas Legislature, at one point being stripped of her committee assignments after supporting Democratic candidates seeking elected office.

Since losing to U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall in 2020, Bollier has stepped away from public and active political life.

In addition to Bollier and Rep. Davids, Chasin also gave to former U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, and Jason Kander, a former Missouri lawmaker who ran unsuccessfully for a U.S. Senate seat in 2016.

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