The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has accused independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign and his affiliated super PAC of illegal coordination, accusing him of trying to get all names on the ballot. He claimed that he was receiving unfair benefits from groups that support his promotion. 50 states.
complaints, submitted on friday The Federal Election Commission (FEC) alleges that the American Values 2024 super PAC’s hiring of signature gatherers in key battleground states to help vote for President Kennedy violates federal election rules. The DNC cited Michigan and Illinois as examples, saying they have guidelines in place that prohibit anyone other than a campaign from collecting signatures on ballots.
“Rather than solving this problem by raising the necessary funds under federal law, Mr. Kennedy and his campaign are taking a shortcut by having American Values 2024 perform this campaign function on their behalf. ” the complaint states. “Simply put, in order to qualify to vote under state law, American Values 2024 must coordinate its activities with Mr. Kennedy and his campaign in a manner that violates federal campaign finance law.”
President Kennedy criticized the DNC’s claims in a post on X (formerly Twitter), claiming that the Democratic Party is in decline.
“After yesterday’s day, it’s understandable that they would want to focus on someone else,” Kennedy wrote in a post Friday. “The DNC is in no position to claim morality against anyone. They have refused to hold primaries and have worked against the will of the people in the past few elections. The party my family built has collapsed. It’s sad to see it go up in flames.”
The leading candidate is eligible to appear on the ballot in Utah, and his campaign announced in January that he is eligible to appear on the ballot in New Hampshire.
In a statement to The Hill on Friday, Tony Lyons, co-chairman of American Values 2024, said his PAC is “following FEC precedent to get Bobby Kennedy on the ballot in 12 states.” Accordingly, we are working independently from the election campaign.”
Lyons also accused the DNC of “rigging” the election, claiming that incumbent President Biden only wants to “stifle dissent” out of fear that he won’t win a “free, open, and fair election.” did.
“This FEC indictment is another desperate attempt by the DNC to smear and smear Kennedy and drain his campaign funds,” he wrote. “The American people are too smart to be fooled by these political games.”
The accusation is that Democrats believe Kennedy and third-party candidates such as Cornel West and Jill Stein will steal votes from Biden and give him a victory over former President Trump, who is likely to be the Republican nominee in November. The move comes amid growing concerns about giving.
Kennedy began his bid for the Oval Office in the Democratic primary, but switched to running alone in October, potentially siphoning off some of the people who might vote for President Trump during the general election. became.
Tim Mellon, a donor to President Trump and one of American Values 2024’s largest donors, gave $15 million to pro-Kennedy groups in 2023, according to an FEC report.
The filing also shows he gave $10 million to Trump’s super PAC, MAGA, which the DNC said was a sign that some of Trump’s biggest supporters were capitalizing on Kennedy’s bid for the White House. They argued that this showed that they were stealing votes from Biden.
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