Today, RFK Jr. was found guilty of misrepresenting his residency in an attempt to gain ballot access in New York. As a result, it was ruled he will not appear on the ballot in New York. This verdict comes after a week-long trial that was a disaster for RFK Jr. and his campaign. Throughout the course of the trial, RFK Jr. was repeatedly called out for lies he told under oath in an attempt to mislead the public about his spoiler candidacy. 

In response, Democratic National Committee Spokesperson Matt Corridoni released the following statement:

“RFK Jr. is a fraud through and through. He’s a fraud when he claims to live in New York, despite moving to California ten years ago. And he’s a fraud when he says he’s in this race for any reason other than being a spoiler for Donald Trump. What we know to be true is that RFK Jr. was recruited to run by MAGA Republicans, he is funded by MAGA Republicans, and he parrots MAGA talking points.”

BACKGROUND ON RFK JR.’S DISASTROUS TRIAL AND LIES HE TOLD UNDER OATH 

RFK Jr. lied to voters by using a New York address to collect signatures to appear on the ballot despite living in California for 10 years. 

New York Post: “‘He intends to move back to New York after his wife [Cheryl Hines] retires from acting. Mr. Kennedy has lived in the Town of Bedford (Katonah is a village within Bedford) continuously for 40 years. Since 2014, his official residence was on Twin Lakes Road in Bedford a few miles from his current residence. He typically stayed at that residence two times each month.’”

New York Times: “Taking the stand after lunch, Mr. Kennedy was grilled by Mr. Corbett about his home in California, which he shares with his wife, Cheryl Hines, the actress, and a menagerie of still-living animals, including — at one point — an emu. Mr. Corbett asked about his move to California from New York, after he married Ms. Hines in 2014. ‘Did the emu move from New York to Malibu?’ the lawyer asked. Yes, Mr. Kennedy said. The emu, named Toby, was later killed by a mountain lion.”

New York Times: “But testimony on Wednesday sometimes veered into the surreal, with questions about training protocols for wild birds. In order to show Mr. Kennedy’s connection to California, where he has a home with his wife, the actress Cheryl Hines, a lawyer for the voters asked about his fondness for ravens. Mr. Kennedy said he liked to train them to eat out of his hand and perform tricks like putting poker chips in people’s pockets. ‘Mr. Kennedy, how long would it take you to teach a raven to talk?’ asked the lawyer, Keith M. Corbett, apparently seeking to show that the candidate spent a lot of time on such activities at his home in Los Angeles. Mr. Kennedy confirmed that raven training was time-consuming, but said that others at the Los Angeles house handled bird duties while he was on the campaign trail.”

Associated Press: “The voters’ attorneys have sought to demonstrate Kennedy is not a New York resident, relying on government documents and even a recent social media video in which Kennedy talks about taming ravens he feeds at his Los Angeles home. In a testy exchange in the Albany courtroom, attorney Keith Corbett repeatedly asked Kennedy whether moving to California with his family and pets demonstrated his intention to reside in that state. Kennedy balked at providing a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, saying the reality was more nuanced. ‘Do you want a yes or no answer, or do you want the truth?’ Kennedy said. ‘My intention is to return to New York and that’s the only requirement for residency,’ he said. Under questioning from his own lawyer, Kennedy said he moved to California out of love for his wife and concern for her career.”

Associated Press: “Kennedy sat at his attorneys’ table in a court in the state capital of Albany, occasionally jotting down notes and conferring with his lawyers, as a cousin said he believed that the candidate lives in L.A. and two old friends disputed that they’d previously been his landlords in New York’s Westchester County. […] One of Kennedy’s cousins, Stephen Smith Jr., testified remotely that he grew up with Kennedy and once had dinner in a California home the candidate shares with Hines. ‘From everything I know, Bobby lives in Los Angeles,’ Smith said.”

RFK Jr. hasn’t owned property in New York since 2014, but falsely claimed that from 2014 to 2023 he rented a room on Twin Lakes Drive before being asked to leave because of his spoiler campaign. 

New York Post: “‘Since 2014, his official residence was on Twin Lakes Road in Bedford a few miles from his current residence. He typically stayed at that residence two times each month.’”

Times Union: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was kicked out of his home in Westchester County last year after he began his campaign for president because his landlord supports President Joe Biden, he claimed this week. Kennedy — who’s staging an independent bid for president this year against Biden and former President Donald J. Trump — wrote in court filings that he was asked to leave in March 2023. ‘My friend and landlord David Michaelis requested that I move out of my residence at Two Twin Lakes Road, as he remains a supporter of President Biden,’ Kennedy wrote.”

Associated Press: “Earlier, longtime friend David Michaelis testified that he used to host Kennedy regularly as an overnight guest from 2014 through 2017 at his Westchester home about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of midtown Manhattan. Michaelis was handed a court document in which Kennedy said his ‘friend and landlord’ Michaelis requested that he move out of that house in March 2023 since Michaelis was a supporter of President Joe Biden. Michaelis called that statement ‘a fiction’ and said Kennedy was never his house tenant. He said he last saw Kennedy in Los Angeles around 2019.” 

Times Union: “The allegation came on the first day at a trial in state Supreme Court in Albany that may determine if Kennedy will appear on the ballot in New York — an outcome that could jeopardize his campaign for president. ‘I was not in any sense and had never been his landlord,’ said David Michaelis, a resident of Westchester County and Kennedy’s former friend.”

Associated Press: “Michaelis’ wife, Nancy Steiner, told the court she was upset at being described as a landlord by a once-dear friend from whom she grew ‘sadly distant’ because of his public stances and comments.”

RFK Jr. claims he transferred his address to 84 Croton Lake Rd. in June 2023 after being asked to leave Twin Lakes Drive. 

New York Post: “Late Sunday, RFK Jr.’s campaign claimed to The Post that ‘84 Croton Road is Mr. Kennedy’s official address. He receives mail there. His driver’s license is registered there. His automobile is registered there. His voting registration is from there. His hunting, fishing, falconry, and wildlife rehabilitation licenses are from there. He pays rent to the owner.’”

New York Post: “‘Since embarking on his presidential campaign, Mr. Kennedy has constantly been traveling in other states. During the 11 months since switching residences, he, therefore, has not had occasion to stay at his Croton Lake Road home, which explains why neighbors have not seen him.’”

Associated Press: “Kennedy says he rents [a] room in a friend’s home in Katonah, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of midtown Manhattan. However, he testified that he has only slept in that room once, citing constant campaign travel.”

New York Times: “In earlier testimony, Mr. Kennedy admitted that he had no written agreement at the property in Katonah where he claimed to live, in a spare bedroom of a friend. That friend, Barbara Moss, testified Tuesday that Mr. Kennedy had recently started paying $500 a month in rent and had received mail at the house. But Ms. Moss also said that she had received money from Mr. Kennedy only in late May — a lump sum of $6,000, or one year’s rent — a day after a New York Post story appeared questioning his residence. A photo of the spare bedroom displayed at the hearing showed only a few of Mr. Kennedy’s possessions, including what he thought was a photo of himself and Mick Jagger; the bed, bedding and furniture were all Ms. Moss’s, he conceded.”

Times Union: “Kennedy has claimed that he rents a room from a friend — Barbara Moss — and considers it to be his true residence. He also lives in California with his wife, actor Cheryl Hines, but has claimed that he travels between the two homes. But it was also revealed Tuesday that Kennedy didn’t pay a year’s worth of back rent to Moss until questions about his residency at her home threatened to derail his campaign. That was revealed Tuesday at the ongoing trial in Albany, where Kennedy was questioned on the stand about whether he lives in New York. The lump sum payment — $6,000 for the last year of rent — was paid to Kennedy’s friend the day after a story published by the New York Post included quotes from neighbors who said he didn’t live there.”

Times Union: “Moss testified Tuesday morning before Kennedy took the stand that the two had discussed an informal agreement for him to pay $500 per month to rent a room at her home. She shares it with her husband, who is a longtime friend of Kennedy’s. ‘We had a couple discussions that Bobby would be paying rent and first even discussed a lease,’ Moss said. ‘So we talked about it and we talked about the amount.’ A lease agreement was never signed by Kennedy, nor had Moss prepared one, she said.”

RFK Jr. gave three different addresses in one answer when asked on the stand what address in New York he considers home. 

Times Union: “When asked where he considers home, he gave three different addresses in the same response: one where he previously stayed with friends, the one he now claims is his New York residence and the actual name of the first answer. ‘When I say “let’s go home,” it’s my home at Twin Lakes Road. But now that would be 84 Croton Lake Road, Twin Lakes Drive, excuse me,’ Kennedy said.”

Times Union: “His testimony about where he’s lived, and when, was often corrected in the same sentence, either because his attorney pointed out he was reading the wrong information from an exhibit or because he had forgotten a date. ‘That’s my Achilles heel,’ Kennedy said.”

RFK Jr. seemed confused and unsure when asked to answer questions on the stand about his trusts, real estate transactions, and personal documents. 

Associated Press: “Kennedy, in a blue suit, confidently answered many questions but seemed less sure with some queries related to a series of trusts and real estate transactions.”

Times Union: “His attorney — Savino — began the day in good spirits but the courtroom became tense as the day wore on when Kennedy repeatedly wasn’t able to correctly identify his own personal documents, including professional licenses, or read from them as intended.”

RFK Jr. changed his registration with the Department of Motor Vehicles a day after he swore in an affidavit he was already registered at the 84 Croton Rd address. 

Times Union: “But Kennedy was also found, in court, to have changed his registration with the Department of Motor Vehicles the day after he wrote in a sworn affidavit as part of the case in July that he was already registered there. ‘We’re talking about a 24-hour difference,’ Kennedy quipped. ‘No, we’re talking about an attorney who swore something under penalty of perjury about a residence that’s not true,’ replied Keith Corbett, an attorney from Harris Beach leading the case against Kennedy.”

New York Times: “That composure, however, was somewhat shaken as Mr. Corbett questioned Mr. Kennedy about a July 2 affirmation in which he swore that his driver’s license was registered at the Katonah address. Mr. Corbett then offered a pair of documents from two state agencies that showed he did not make that change until July 3. Mr. Kennedy said he was unaware of that discrepancy and tried to play it down. ‘We’re talking about a 24-hour difference,’ he said. ‘No,’ Mr. Corbett shot back. ‘We’re talking about an attorney who swore something under the penalty of perjury.’”

Associated Press: “In one tense exchange in the Albany courtroom, voters’ attorney Keith Corbett produced a July 2 affirmation from Kennedy saying his driver’s license was registered to the Katonah address. But Corbett said government documents show the registration did not list that address until the next day. ‘You are familiar with the term “perjury”?’ Corbett asked. ‘Of course I am,’ Kennedy replied, adding that his assistant handled the paperwork. ‘I will certainly correct this. I was wrong by 24 hours,’ Kennedy said.” 

RFK Jr. seemingly lied about having a falconry license in California. 

New York Times: “Mr. Corbett tried to show that Mr. Kennedy had an active falconry license in California, something that he had denied in a sworn July 2 affirmation to the court. On Wednesday, Mr. Kennedy said he did not believe he did, and asserted he had ‘never practiced falconry’ in California.”

On his voter registration in 2016, 2018, and 2020, RFK Jr. claimed his sister Kerry’s home in Bedford Corners as his official address. Kerry sold the house in 2015. 

New York Post: “Corbett also pulled up New York Board of Elections records showing Kennedy’s residency was at his sister Kerry Kennedy’s Bedford Corners home in Westchester County when he voted in 2016, 2018 and 2020 — despite the deed showing his sibling sold the house in 2015.”

New York Times: “But Mr. Kennedy faced blistering questions about his voter registration, and he admitted to voting in 2016 while being registered at the address of a home once owned by his sister, Kerry Kennedy — but that she no longer owned. A lawyer for the voters, Keith M. Corbett, likened that to ‘voter fraud.’ Mr. Kennedy disagreed, though not vehemently. ‘I don’t believe what I did was voter fraud,’ he said. ‘But I could be wrong.’

Associated Press: “He was defiant when Corbett produced documents indicating Kennedy voted in 2016 listing an address of a suburban New York home that his sister had sold a year earlier. When Corbett bought up voter fraud, Kennedy responded: ‘My testimony here is that I never defrauded anybody.’”

New York Post:  “Kennedy said he moved around 13 times in the Bedford Corners and Mount Kisco area from 2016 through 2020 and didn’t think he needed to update his residence every time since his polling location would be the same. ‘I don’t think that’s illegal,’ Kennedy said. But Corbett implied it was when he asked, ‘Are you familiar with the term voter fraud?’ ‘I’m familiar with the term. I don’t know what I did was voter fraud,’ Kennedy answered.”

RFK Jr. falsely claimed former Gov. David Paterson offered him Hillary Clinton’s former Senate seat. 

New York Times: “Under questioning from his lawyer, William F. Savino, Mr. Kennedy insisted that he had ‘every kind of affiliation with this state,’ saying that his ‘political gravities’ were in New York. ‘There was a time I knew almost every Democratic officeholder in the state,’ he said, noting that he had considered running for New York attorney general in 2006. He also suggested that he had even been offered Hillary Clinton’s vacated Senate seat in the state in 2009, though David A. Paterson, the governor at the time, eventually chose Kirsten Gillibrand. On Wednesday, Mr. Paterson denied this in an online post, saying he had never spoken with Mr. Kennedy during that period.”