NOAA investigating RFK Jr. after allegedly driving severed whale head across state lines

ByWill McDuffie ABCNews logo
Tuesday, September 17, 2024
Robert F. Kennedy Jr's. name must be removed from NC ballots
The North Carolina Supreme Court on Monday upheld a lower-court ruling that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s name must be taken off state ballots for the Nov. 5 presidential election.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association is investigating Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a spokeswoman for the agency told ABC News, a month after the resurfacing of a decades-old incident in which Kennedy allegedly drove a dead whale's head across state lines.

The video is from a previous report.

Kennedy's daughter, Kick Kennedy, told Town & Country in 2012 an anecdote about her father's handling of a dead whale that washed up on a Massachusetts beach. The story resurfaced in August and drew condemnation from the Center for Biological Diversity Action Fund, which called for the NOAA to investigate.

Over the weekend, Kennedy told an Arizona crowd he had received a letter from the agency announcing an investigation.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in the spin room after a presidential debate between Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in the spin room after the ABC News presidential debate, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia.
AP Photo/Matt Rourke

"I received a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Institute saying that they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago," Kennedy said, according to NBC News.

Kate Silverstein, a spokeswoman for NOAA Fisheries, told ABC News Monday that the agency was investigating Kennedy but did not respond to a question seeking confirmation that it was related to the incident Kick Kennedy described.

Silverstein said the agency does not comment on ongoing investigations.