ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. insisted he plans to return to live in New York, as the independent presidential candidate was grilled for a second day Wednesday about his residency and whether he should be kept off the Empire State’s ballot in November.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of several voters seeks to invalidate the petition Kennedy submitted to get on the New York ballot, alleging he listed a residence in the New York City suburb of Katonah on the petition while he has lived in the Los Angeles area since 2014.
Kennedy testified again Wednesday that Katonah was his “home address.” He said his move to California a decade ago was only temporary so he could be with his wife, “Curb Your Enthusiasm” actor Cheryl Hines, and that he always planned to return to New York.
The voters’ attorneys have sought to demonstrate Kennedy is not a New York resident, relying on government documents and even a recent social media video in which Kennedy talks about taming ravens 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 demonstrated his intention to reside in that state.
Kennedy balked at providing a “yes” or “no” answer, saying the reality was 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’s the only requirement for residency,” he said.
Under questioning from his own lawyer, Kennedy said he moved to California out of love for his wife and concern for her career.
“I said I would figure out a way to make a living in California until we could move back, 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.
The residence in question is a room in a home in well-to-do Katonah, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) north of midtown Manhattan. Kennedy testified Wednesday that he has only slept in that room once, citing his constant travel with a security detail for his campaign.
Shown a photograph of the room by Corbett, Kennedy acknowledged the furniture and painting in the room are not his, but he said pictures on the nightstand belong to him.
“I think one of them is a photo of me and Mick Jagger,” he said.
Kennedy’s lawyer, William F. Savino, asked him why he didn’t just rent or buy a house in New York in the last 10 years. Kennedy said homeownership is time consuming and expensive.
“It snows a lot here,” he said. “The pipes break, the driveway needs to be plowed and all these other burdens that are associated with home ownership.”
Kennedy, who lived in New York for years before moving to California, noted his father was similarly accused when he ran for a New York Senate seat in 1964 and won. Months before that election, his father, Robert F. Kennedy, rented a home 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 there for $500 a month, but she acknowledged those payments began a day after a New York Post story questioned the candidate’s claim that he lives in New York. The initial payment was for $6,000, equal to a year’s back rent.
Kennedy testified Wednesday that he thought his assistant had been paying rent for the previous year and that he made sure payments started after the newspaper story.
In a video posted on Facebook Tuesday, the 70-year-old Kennedy said he has lived in New York since his father moved there in 1964. This was after his father’s brother, President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated. The candidate’s own father was shot to death in 1968 while running for president.
The lawsuit against Kennedy is backed by Clear Choice PAC, a super PAC led by supporters of Democratic President Joe Biden. A judge is set to decide the outcome without a jury.
While independent presidential candidates like Kennedy face extremely long odds, he has the potential to do better than any such candidate in decades, helped by his famous name and a loyal base. Both Democrat and Republican strategists worry he could negatively affect their candidate’s chances.
Kennedy’s campaign has said he has enough signatures to qualify in a majority of states, but his ballot drive has faced challenges and lawsuits in several states, including North Carolina and New Jersey.
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Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.
