The Democratic National Committee has filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign and an allied super PAC, alleging that the campaign is receiving an improper benefit from the super PAC’s work to qualify him for state ballots.
The Kennedy-aligned super PAC American Values 2024 announced late last year that it would be investing eight figures to assist the signature-gathering efforts of Kennedy’s campaign. Independent candidates need to gather petition signatures to make the general election ballot in many states, as opposed to qualifying by winning a party primary.
Kennedy has only qualified for the ballot in Utah so far, but American Values 2024 started hiring signature-gathering vendors in key battleground states at the start of 2024. And just last week, it announced it would be funding ballot access efforts for Kennedy in five additional states.
According to the DNC complaint, that amounts to an illegal contribution from American Values 2024 to Kennedy’s campaign, “in violation of federal law.”
The Kennedy campaign is “in the process of accepting a $15 million unlawful in-kind contribution by coordinating their efforts to get him on the ballot,” DNC legal counsel Bob Lenhard said on a Friday call announcing the FEC complaint.
“Rather than doing that hard work itself, using money raised in compliance with the candidate contribution limits, the campaign is taking a shortcut, outsourcing what is otherwise a core campaign function to a super PAC,” Lenhard added.
NBC News has reached out to American Values 2024 and The Kennedy campaign, but has not received a response.
The campaign has previously denied coordinating with the super PAC on ballot access efforts.
American Values 2024’s biggest donors include Tim Mellon, a large Trump donor who gave $15 million to the pro-Kennedy group in 2023, according to campaign finance records. FEC filings show Mellon also donated $10 million to MAGA Inc., the main pro-Trump super PAC, last year.
Gavin De Becker, who is providing security for Kennedy, also donated over $10 million to the super PAC, but the group has refunded some of that “bridge funding” that was not needed, American Values 2024’s Tony Lyons told NBC News.
“He has committed to continue bridge funding until RFK Jr. is elected president,” Lyons added.
