Leftist Dark Money Group Flip-Flops On RFK Jr.

A left-wing dark money group is bankrolling a “war room” to oppose environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation for Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary. The same organization supported his presidential campaign.

Last week, Axios reported that the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which is allowed to receive unlimited contributions from anonymous donors, “plays both sides on RFK Jr.”

“During the campaign, a super PAC it funded, Retire Career Politicians, tried to boost RFK, with ads claiming he ‘isn’t afraid to tell the truth about vaccines,’” Axios reported. “More recently, the Sixteen Thirty Fund is accepting donations on behalf of a new ‘Stop RFK War Room’ effort, run by Protect Our Care, a liberal group that’s running ads accusing RFK of spreading ‘deadly lies about vaccines.’”

According to Axios, the new group may spend seven figures on the operation, which features negative digital ads meant to thwart Kennedy’s nomination to run the nearly $2 trillion agency.

Kennedy’s hearings 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 panels, blamed on a paperwork delay. Senate Republican Finance Chairman Mike Crapo, a Republican from Idaho, recently said a hearing was unlikely 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 conflicting messages in statements to Axios.

“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 efforts are at odds with the values of Sixteen Thirty Fund to achieve progressive outcomes.”

Caitlin Sutherland, executive director of watchdog group Americans for Public Trust, told The Federalist the flip-flop came within a suspiciously short timespan.

“We’re not talking about a difference in spending in a matter of years; we’re talking about the difference in spending in a matter of weeks,” she said. “

The “War Room” to stop RFK was launched in November, according to Axios. The Sixteen Thirty Group is also heavily 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 group that shares the same founder, address, 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 president 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 groups aiming to derail President-elect Trump’s mandate to put Kennedy in charge.”

“It is important to realize also that these campaigns are not always as straight forward as they might seem,” Lyons said, adding that few senators have been critical of “Kennedy’s plans to help heal all Americans because in their hearts they know how important Kennedy’s mission is to the future of our children and the country 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.

Tristan Justice is a national correspondent for The Federalist and the co-author of “Fat and Unhappy: How ‘Body Positivity’ Is Killing Us (and How to Save Yourself).” He has also written for The Washington Examiner and The Daily Signal. His work has also been featured in Real Clear Politics and Fox News. Tristan graduated from George Washington University where he majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow him on Twitter at @JusticeTristan or contact him at [email protected]. Sign up for Tristan’s email newsletter here. Buy “Fat and Unhappy” here.