ALBANY, N.Y. — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. confronted hours of heated questioning Tuesday in a case accusing him of mendacity about his New York residency in an effort to get on the state’s presidential poll.
The unbiased presidential candidate testified within the lawsuit introduced by the President Biden-aligned Clear Selection PAC, which is searching for to overturn Kennedy’s Empire State nominating petition on the grounds he fibbed about his residence whereas truly dwelling in California.
Keith Corbett, an lawyer for the tremendous PAC, confronted Kennedy in in Albany Supreme Court docket with a July 2 sworn affidavit saying his driver’s license was registered at his residence within the New York Metropolis suburb of Katonah. However Corbett claimed state motorcar information didn’t present the license registered at that deal with till the following day.
“You might be conversant in the time period ‘perjury’?” Corbett requested, seemingly in an try to color the discrepancy as a smoking gun.
“After all I’m,” replied Kennedy, 70, clad in a darkish blue swimsuit, gentle blue gown shirt and a darkish blue slender tie.
He tried to downplay the obvious inconsistency, saying that what he swore to within the affidavit was “what I believed on the time.”
“That is the primary time I’m listening to there was a mistake,” he mentioned. “I used to be unsuitable by 24 hours.”
Corbett aggressively continued to press Kennedy, prompting Decide Christina Ryba to maintain an objection over the lawyer’s “badgering.”
Corbett additionally pulled up New York Board of Elections information displaying Kennedy’s residency was at his sister Kerry Kennedy’s Bedford Corners residence in Westchester County when he voted in 2016, 2018 and 2020 — regardless of the deed displaying his sibling offered the home in 2015.
Kennedy mentioned he moved round 13 instances within the Bedford Corners and Mount Kisco space from 2016 by 2020 and didn’t suppose he wanted to replace his residence each time since his polling location can be the identical.
“I don’t suppose that’s unlawful,” Kennedy mentioned.
However Corbett implied it was when he requested, “Are you conversant in the time period voter fraud?”
“I’m conversant in the time period. I don’t know what I did was voter fraud,” Kennedy answered.
Kennedy has a house in Los Angeles the place he lives together with his actress spouse Cheryl Hines, who starred in HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
However his legal professionals have argued in court docket papers that Kennedy solely quickly moved his household to the West Coast for his spouse’s profession and that he “is and all the time has been a New Yorker.”
Democrats try besides Kennedy off the poll to take away any risk that he may very well be a spoiler in Donald Trump’s favor.
By proving Kennedy held residency in California, he and his working mate – Nicole Shanahan – would forfeit the Golden State’s 54 electoral faculty votes.
A constitutional quirk prevents a presidential ticket of two candidates from the identical state from successful electoral faculty votes from that state.
The bench trial can be determined by the decide, relatively than a jury.
The candidate is slated to proceed testifying Wednesday morning and was instructed by the decide not to talk about the case till he’s wrapped.
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