Trending claims

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promoted ketamine as a therapy for depression.

According to a financial filing, Tony Lyons and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reached an agreement over book advances in August 2024, the same month Kennedy ended his presidential campaign and endorsed President Trump.

Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, stated in an email that gifts to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. created a clear conflict of interest because his agency is reviewing a ketamine therapy for approval.

In financial disclosures for his Senate confirmation, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated he had earned $451,000 as a consultant for Skyhorse Publishing.

Gavin de Becker's 2025 book, 'Forbidden Facts: Government Deceit & Suppression About Brain Damage From Childhood Vaccines,' was published by Skyhorse, a company owned by Tony Lyons.

Tony Lyons, a publisher and associate of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has a child with autism.

Kedric Payne of the Campaign Legal Center stated that federal rules have exceptions for gifts from friends.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported on the flights and book advances received by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Cheryl Hines, wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., accepted $210,000 in consulting fees from MAHA Action.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s September 2026 financial disclosure showed he accepted $126,000 worth of lodging in a Washington, D.C. home owned by his friend, Gavin de Becker.

Gavin de Becker stated that he has no business with the U.S. federal government, including the Department of Health and Human Services.

Richard Painter, a former White House ethics counsel under President George W. Bush, said that the consulting fees paid to Cheryl Hines by MAHA Action "reeks of conflict of interest" and could appear to be a bribe.

According to financial disclosure records from September 2026, Gavin de Becker paid for nearly $150,000 in airfares for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the preceding year, including a $45,000 trip to Greece in July 2025 and a nearly $97,000 trip to Fiji in November 2025.

The two books for which Robert F. Kennedy Jr. received advances are titled "Unsettled Science" and "A Defense of Israel."

HHS spokeswoman Emily Hilliard stated that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "complies with all applicable federal ethics laws, regulations and financial disclosure requirements."

Gavin de Becker previously contributed to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s presidential campaign and was paid by the campaign to provide a security detail.

Cheryl Hines, wife of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., accepted $210,000 in consulting fees from MAHA Action, a nonprofit advocacy group led by Tony Lyons.

The nonprofit MAHA Action rallies supporters for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s priorities on weekly broadcasts and supports legislation, including a federal bill to end liability protection for vaccine makers.

According to his September 2026 financial disclosure, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accepted $4 million in book advances and over $270,000 in gifts in the preceding year.

In an ethics filing before becoming Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pledged not to engage in writing, editing, or promotional activities for his books, but did not pledge to forgo advances.