The Democratic Party’s concern over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s third-party bid allegedly reached new heights as the campaign leveled accusations of a ballot access denial plot.
“This is the epitome of corruption.”
With the 2024 presidential election shaping up to be a rematch of the 2020 contest, the environmental lawyer had endeavored to establish himself as a viable alternative to both former President Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden.
Now, ahead of the planned Tuesday announcement of his running mate, the independent candidate’s campaign detailed a new roadblock to add to a growing list with an apparent invalidation of his petition for the Nevada ballot.
Monday, the Kennedy campaign’s ballot access attorney Paul Rossi released a scathing statement accusing Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar (D) of working in concert with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to invent a new rule for third-party ballot petitions that allegedly contradicted information that came directly from the official’s office.
“This is the epitome of corruption,” said Rossi after being informed the running mate needed to be listed BEFORE gathering signatures. “After successfully collecting all of the signatures we need in Nevada, the DNC Goon Squad and their lackeys in the Nevada Secretary of State’s office are outright inventing a new requirement for the petition with zero legal basis.”
“The Nevada statute does not require the VP on the petition. The petition does not even have a field for a VP on it. The state confirmed that the petition does not require a VP in writing on Nov. 14. The state approved our petition without a VP on it in writing on Jan. 9,” the attorney contended linking to an email that showed the response from Aguilar’s office.
The campaign had posed the question in November, “Does the vice presidential candidate have to be listed on the petition forms?” and received the answer “No. See page 5 of the guide under ‘Petition Format’.”
Accusations against the DNC included a link to a report from NBC News titled “Democrats prepare to go to war against third-party candidates” that detailed the appointment of operative Lis Smith to run “an aggressive communications component of its strategy, which also includes opposition research and legal challenges.”
“We’re facing an unprecedented election and we know the GOP is already working to prop up third-party candidates like Robert Kennedy Jr. to make them stalking horses for Donald Trump,” said Smith’s former deputy on then-Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign who had been hired as the team’s spokesperson.
“With so much on the line, we’re not taking anything for granted,” he continued to NBC News. “We’re going to make sure voters are educated and we’re going to make sure all candidates are playing by the rules.”
Kennedy, who had been denied a U.S. Secret Service detail and had switched from a Democratic Party bid to independent after the DNC refused to host debates, shared more of Rossi’s statement on his social media account, “The DNC is spending millions of dollars in a frantic attempt to keep Kennedy off the ballot because they cannot defeat us in a fair election. They cannot face us in a contest of ideas.”
“These are the death throes of a party that once stood for working people but has long since abandoned them to Wall Street, Big Pharma, Big Tech, and the endless war machine. The Democratic Party is the biggest threat to democracy in this country,” added Rossi.
“The DNC is spending millions of dollars in a frantic attempt to keep Kennedy off the ballot because they cannot defeat us in a fair election. They cannot face us in a contest of ideas. These are the death throes of a party that once stood for working people but has long since… https://t.co/hZgwvFKe9r
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) March 26, 2024
In response to the allegations, Aguilar’s office told CBS News, “Earlier today it was brought to the attention of our office that a Secretary of State employee had provided inaccurate guidance to an independent presidential campaign. This was an error, and will be handled appropriately. In no way was the initial error or subsequent statutory guidance made with intent to benefit or harm any political party or candidate for office.”
The SOS further suggested Kennedy was SOL in detailing the onus to follow the statute fell on the candidate regardless of what the secretary’s office told the campaign, “When a government agency communicates with a member of the public and gives an unclear or incorrect answer to a question, Nevada courts have been clear that the agency is not permitted to honor the employee’s statements if following those statement[s] would be in conflict with the law.”
Rossi added, “This assault on the democratic rights of millions of Americans in Nevada, and their freedom to vote for an independent candidate, embodies the corruption and depravity that has come to characterize the Democratic Party,” and demanded that a federal judge enjoin the attempt and provide the campaign the chance to depose Aguilar to learn who at the White House or DNC “concocted this scheme.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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