CNN and other outlets report that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is expected to end his presidential campaign on Friday, according to sources familiar with his plans. The Kennedy campaign said on Wednesday that the candidate would “address the nation” on Friday morning. Though it did not share details of what the address would cover, the sources said Kennedy will likely announce the end of his run.
This of course comes just a few days after questions were raised about whether Kennedy complied with all the legal requirements necessary to maintain a valid New York falconry license, as he had asserted in court filings. See “Judge Rejects RFK Jr.’s Claim to be New York Resident, Despite Valid State Falconry License” (Aug. 16, 2024). In that hard-hitting but also ridiculous analysis, the author pointed out that, among other evidence meant to prove he is a resident of New York and not California—where he and his family have lived for a decade—Kennedy testified that he had maintained his New York falconry license that entire time, thus signaling his intent to return. The judge discounted this evidence, and most of his other evidence, as set forth pretty goddamn exhaustively in the post linked above. Kennedy immediately appealed, hoping to restore his name to New York’s 2024 presidential ballots.
But that was before the additional questions were raised about the falconry evidence. As previously noted, it is quite difficult to obtain a falconry license in New York, but it may not be difficult to maintain it once obtained. Based on the state department’s website and its falconry examination manual, it may not take more than paying a renewal fee and submitting the required annual Falconry Report Form. This form requires licenseholders to list the number of “raptors” (predatory birds like falcons or hawks, not dinosaurs or Canadian basketball players) they possessed at the start of the year and the number (if any) acquired or lost during the year, as well as any hunting activities involving these birds. In most cases, one would expect, this reporting requirement wouldn’t be especially onerous.
So did Kennedy bother to comply with it? As promised, the author posed that very question to New York’s State Department of Environmental Conservation back on the 16th. It responded—but didn’t answer. “Requests for any records held by our agency,” it stated, “need to go through our Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request system.” This is either a standard legal requirement with which the agency is required to comply, or shocking evidence of a conspiracy at the highest levels to cover up wrongdoing. (Almost certainly the former, but that’s not very exciting.)
Why does this matter, you may be asking, at least if you’re new here. Well, remember that Kennedy cited his New York falconry license to a court as evidence that New York has continued to be his “place of residence” even though he, his family, and his pets all relocated to California a long time ago. Moving doesn’t change your place of residence if you can prove that you always intended to come back, but as we discussed last time, his proof of that was … somewhat lacking. If he failed to file his falconry reports, then at a minimum he failed to comply with New York law and regulations, which might mean his license wasn’t even valid—or worse, it might mean he was not engaging in any falconry in New York at all, contrary to what he led the court to believe.
Of course, Kennedy might have other problems above and beyond the reporting requirement. Under New York law, falconry licenses can be issued only to a “resident of this state,” and they expire after five years. It’s not clear whether a renewed license, like a new one, can only be “issued” to a resident. So it’s possible that Kennedy couldn’t legally have had a New York falconry license if he wasn’t a resident— which makes it a little problematic to use the license as proof of residency. Also, a non-resident can engage in falconry without a New York falconry license, but only if he or she has (1) a valid non-resident hunting license, (2) written proof of the right to possess a falcon in the state of residence, and (3) written proof of the right to hunt with it in that state. Kennedy testified that he let his California falconry license expire a while ago, so this option’s out. The upshot is that if Kennedy didn’t or couldn’t get a previous New York license renewed, then any falconing he did in New York recently was illegal. And if he did no falconing at all there—as I strongly suspect—he was misleading the court by citing this to support the New York residence claim.
Well, this Freedom of Information Law request should settle things:
Record Requested: (1) Records showing that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has applied for, sought to renew, or possessed a New York state falconry license at any time after 2013, including but not limited to copies of any annual New York state falconry reports he has filed since 2013. (2) Records showing that Mr. Kennedy has applied for or possessed a New York hunting license (resident or non-resident) during the same time period. Copies of the licenses and/or reports themselves, if any, would be sufficient.
If Kennedy does drop out of the race on Friday, of course, this matter will lose some of the great national significance it once had. But that doesn’t mean I’m letting it drop.
