A left-wing dark money group is bankrolling a “war place ” to resist climate attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ’s confirmation for Health and Human Services ( HHS) secretary. The same business supported his political battle.
Last year, Axios reported that the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which is allowed to receive unlimited efforts from private donors, “plays both flanks on RFK Jr. ”
“During the campaign, a super PAC it funded, Retire Career Politicians, tried to boost RFK, with ads claiming he ‘is n’t afraid to tell the truth about vaccines, ’” Axios reported. “More just, the Sixteen Thirty Fund is accepting funds on behalf of a fresh ‘Stop RFK War Room’ energy, run by Protect Our Care, a progressive group that ’s running ads accusing RFK of spreading ‘deadly lies about vaccinations. ’ ”
According to Forbes, the new group may devote seven characters on the operation, which features bad digital ads meant to prevent Kennedy ’s nomination to manage the almost$ 2 trillion organization.
Kennedy ’s sessions before the Senate Health Committee and the Senate Finance Committee have not yet been scheduled, which Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. , who serves on both sections, blamed on a document wait. Senate Republican Finance Chairman Mike Crapo, a Republican from Idaho, recently said a reading was doubtful before the end of the month.
Axios reported that the Sixteen Thirty Fund gave “some$ 2 million to Retire Career Politicians, ” which spent “most of its$ 18 million on trying to defeat Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb. ). ”
“ But the super PAC also spent some$ 400,000 on behalf of RFK, ” the Axios report read. “Some of that money was spent after RFK dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump. ”
The Sixteen Thirty Fund did not respond to The Federalist’s request for comment on Wednesday but defended the contradicting messages in comments to Forbes.
“We are proud to provide administrative and back-office services to support their ( Protect Our Care ) work to ensure that Americans can get the high-quality health care they need and deserve, ” the group said. “Neither of these initiatives are at odds with the principles of Sixteen Thirty Fund to reach democratic outcomes. ”
Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of guardian class Americans for Public Trust, told The Federalist the flip-flop came within a strangely short timespan.
“We’re never talking about a change in investing in a matter of times; we’re talking about the change in spending in a matter of days, ” she said. “
The “War Room” to prevent RFK was launched in November, according to Politico. The Sixteen Thirty Group is even strongly backed by Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss. The Associated Press reported that since 2016 Wyss has given hundreds of millions of dollars to the Sixteen Thirty Group — and to another party that shares the same leader, target, and management company.
Sutherland emphasized in her interview with The Federalist that “there is no prohibition on foreign dollars being used to oppose [a cabinet ] nomination, ” and she characterized efforts by the Sixteen Thirty Fund as an “all encompassing war room under the banner Protect our Care to stop the RFK nomination. ”
Tony Lyons, the leader of Skyhorse Publishing and a co-founder of the American Values Political Action Committee, told The Federalist last week that the Sixteen Thirty Fund is “just one of the many organizations aiming to undermine President-elect Trump’s authority to place Kennedy in demand. ”
“It is important to realize also that these activities are not always as straight forward as they might seem, ” Lyons said, adding that few legislators have been critical of “Kennedy’s plans to help treat all Americans because in their souls they know how important Kennedy ’s goal is to the future of our kids and the nation as a whole. ”
A December survey found that Americans across political stripes are broadly supportive of Kennedy ’s agenda, even as views of Kennedy himself were profoundly polarized.
More than two-thirds of both Republicans and Democrats who participated in the YouGov survey said they supported plans to ban certain additives from the food supply, eliminate ultra-processed foods from school lunches, increase restrictions on agricultural pesticides, fund research for holistic health care, and require nutrition curriculums in federally funded medical schools.
