Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. accepted more than $250,000 worth of gifts from a single major donor last year, according to newly disclosed ethics filings reported by the Wall Street Journal.
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The haul included two separate international flights: one running close to $97,000 for a Fiji round-trip, and another costing roughly $45,000 to travel to and from Greece.
The gifts all came from Gavin de Becker, a longtime security consultant who provided protective services to Kennedy and served as a significant donor during his 2024 presidential run. Beyond the flights, de Becker also gave Kennedy free use of his vacation home in Washington, D.C. De Becker owns property in Fiji, where one leg of Kennedy’s travel was headed.
Kennedy, who has been controversial for his anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, disclosed the gifts, all received in 2025, in an annual financial ethics filing updated this week, which the Journal obtained through a records request.
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An HHS spokeswoman said Kennedy follows federal ethics rules and has consulted with agency ethics officials regarding the gifts. De Becker did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.
However, the disclosure lands amid a broader pattern of scrutiny over how Kennedy and his inner circle handle both personal finances and access to his office.
Bloomberg reported this week that a nonprofit tied to Kennedy separately solicited payments from companies in exchange for access to top HHS officials at an upcoming event. Kennedy has also faced criticism for using a military aircraft for campaign-related travel, according to reporting from The New Republic, which noted the arrangement alongside separate scrutiny of Sen. Rand Paul’s use of a private charter jet for Senate committee staff.
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