ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. insisted on his intention to return to New York as the independent presidential candidate was questioned for the second straight day Wednesday about his residency and whether he should stay off the Empire State ballot in November.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of several voters attempted to invalidate Kennedy’s application for the New York electoral roll on the grounds that he listed a residence in the New York suburb of Katonah, even though he has lived in the Los Angeles area since 2014.
Kennedy testified again Wednesday that Katonah is his “home address.” He said his move to California 10 years ago was only temporary so he could be with his wife, “Cut It, Larry!” actress Cheryl Hines, and that he always intended to return to New York.
The voters’ lawyers have tried to demonstrate Kennedy is not a resident of New York, citing government documents and even a recent social media video in which Kennedy talks about taming ravens that he feeds at his Los Angeles home. In a testy exchange in the Albany courtroom, attorney Keith Corbett repeatedly asked Kennedy whether moving to California with his family and pets proved his intention to reside in the state.
AP correspondent Julie Walker reports on the numerous disputes of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over his electoral status.
Kennedy refused to answer this question with a “yes” or “no.” The reality is more nuanced.
“Do you want a yes or no answer, or do you want the truth?” Kennedy said.
“My intention is to return to New York and that is the only condition for the stay,” he said.
When questioned by his own lawyer, Kennedy said he moved to California out of love for his wife and concern for her career.
“I said I would find a way to make a living in California until we could return, and that was our agreement,” he said.
He said it was difficult for him to leave New York because he had built his life there.
It is a room in a house in the affluent Katonah, about 65 kilometers north of Midtown Manhattan. Kennedy said on Wednesday that he had only slept in this room once, citing the fact that he was constantly traveling with security personnel for his election campaign.
When Corbett showed him a photograph of the room, Kennedy acknowledged that the furniture and paintings in the room were not his; he did, however, say that the paintings on the nightstand were his.
“I think one of them is a photo of me and Mick Jagger,” he said.
Kennedy’s attorney, William F. Savino, asked him why he hadn’t simply rented or bought a home in New York over the past decade. Kennedy said owning a home was time-consuming and expensive.
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“It snows a lot here,” he said. “Pipes burst, driveways have to be cleared and all these other stresses that come with owning a home.”
Kennedy, who lived in New York for years before moving to California, pointed out that his father faced similar allegations when he ran for and won a seat in the New York Senate in 1964. Months before that election, his father, Robert F. Kennedy, rented a house on Long Island.
“He was also accused of not being a New Yorker,” he said.
The woman who owns the Katonah property testified Tuesday that Kennedy rents a room for $500 a month, but acknowledged those payments began in May, a day after a New York Post article questioned the candidate’s claim that he lived in New York. The first payment was for $6,000, equivalent to a year’s back rent.
Kennedy testified Wednesday that he believed his assistant had paid the rent for the previous year and that he arranged for the payments to begin after the newspaper article.
Corbett laid out his clients’ case on Wednesday afternoon, then Savino began presenting Kennedy’s arguments.
Savino tried to highlight the candidate’s New York ties. Kennedy pays New York state income taxes, receives mail at a Katonah address and is admitted to the New York bar, according to testimony.
The lawsuit against Kennedy is backed by Clear Choice PAC, a super PAC run by supporters of Democratic President Joe Biden, and a judge will decide the outcome without a jury.
While independent presidential candidates like Kennedy face extremely slim odds, he has the potential to do better than any other candidate of his kind in decades, aided by his famous name and a loyal base. Strategists from both the Democrats and Republicans fear that it could negatively impact their candidate’s chances.
Kennedy’s campaign has said he has enough signatures to qualify in most states, but his campaign has been challenged and sued in several states, including North Carolina And New Jersey.
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Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.
