RFK Jr. touts former CIA spy daughter-in-law for major role in Trump administration
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pushing for his ex-CIA operative presidential campaign manager and daughter-in-law Amaryllis Fox Kennedy to serve as Deputy CIA Director.
Fox Kennedy, a former spy who later had her claims about her time with the agency come into question, would serve under former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, who Donald Trump nominated as CIA Director.
Fox Kennedy, a former spy who later had her claims about her time with the agency come into question, would serve under former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, who Donald Trump nominated as CIA Director.
Kennedy, already himself a controversial Cabinet nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary, has been trying to drive support for his daughter-in-law, Axios reported.
She would not require Senate confirmation to take up the job.
'President-Elect Trump has made brilliant decisions on who will serve in his second Administration at lightning pace,' spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
'Remaining decisions will continue to be announced by him when they are made.'
Fox Kennedy is married to Robert F. Kennedy III, with whom she has two children, a daughter named Bobby and a son named Cassius.
Similar to her former boss and relative, Fox Kennedy has apparently made a U-turn on Trump, whom she wanted RFK Jr. to beat as recently as a late June interview with NPR.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is pushing for his ex-CIA operative presidential campaign manager and daughter-in-law Amaryllis Fox Kennedy to serve as Deputy CIA Director
Kennedy, already himself a controversial Cabinet nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary, has been trying to drive support for his daughter-in-law, Axios reported
'Many of Mr. Kennedy's most ardent supporters support him because they genuinely believe that he is the only candidate who can beat Donald Trump in this election, and they desperately don't want another four years of the chaos we all experienced,' she said.
Also much like her father-in-law, Fox Kennedy has courted controversy for her public statements in the past.
She was in hot water with the government after DailyMail.com reported in 2018 that she may have published a book about her time with the spy agency before getting official permission.
Fox Kennedy was promoting Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA, a book published by Random House. It is on sale beginning October 15.
The book was described as a 'riveting memoir [that] tells the story of her ten years in the most elite clandestine ops unit of the CIA, hunting the world's most dangerous terrorists in sixteen countries while marrying and giving birth to a daughter.'
CIA employees are required to sign a lifetime nondisclosure agreement requiring them to seek approval from the agency's Publication Review Board for any book or other project which may reveal classified information.
While Fox Kennedy is reported to have submitted the manuscript to the CIA board for approval, it is not believed to have been formally approved for publication, according to NBC News.
Fox Kennedy told NBC News that she has yet to obtain formal approval for the book, but added that the agency has so far recommended minor changes, which she has agreed to.
Fox Kennedy, a former spy who later had claims about her time with the agency come into question, would serve under former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe , who Donald Trump nominated as CIA Director
Fox Kennedy was in hot water with the government after DailyMail.com reported in 2018 that she may have published a book about her time with the spy agency before getting official permission
If the CIA asks for more redactions, she will gladly oblige, she said.
'They know where to find me,' she said.
'They have had a copy for over a year, and they have never identified a single sentence or section they wanted to redact.'
Aside from the questions about the legality of the book's release, there are also those who say that Fox Kennedy's claims in the memoir may not be accurate.
A number of CIA officers who learned of the book's contents say that one particular scene from the memoir is unlikely to have taken place as described.
The excerpt in question describes a dramatic meeting that Fox claims to have had with al-Qaeda-linked extremists in the Pakistani city of Karachi.
According to the book, Fox Kennedy met with the extremists after learning of a supposed plan to set off a radiation bomb in Karachi.
She writes that the extremists agreed to stop their colleagues from carrying out the threat after giving one of them clove oil in order to help treat his baby daughter's asthma.
Fox Kennedy is married to Robert F. Kennedy III, with whom she has two children, a daughter named Bobby and a son named Cassius
More recently, she was blamed for mismanaging her father-in-law's presidential campaign, which sputtered out before Kennedy eventually endorsed Trump
NBC News says that four former CIA case officers doubt the veracity of the claims. They say that the CIA would never send an American case officer alone to meet with dangerous jihadists in Pakistan.
Normally, CIA operations involving jihadists in Pakistan are coordinated with Pakistani intelligence services, according to NBC News.
But Fox Kennedy says that while she may have changed some details to protect identities, the events described are largely true.
More recently, she was blamed for mismanaging her father-in-law's presidential campaign, which sputtered out before Kennedy eventually endorsed Trump.
Fox Kennedy hired her nanny Brigid Rasmussen to serve as the campaign chief of staff, the report notes, prompting campaign staff to question her management skills.
'Although Brigid is a nice young woman, she has no idea how to operate in her role and is inexperienced,' one campaign worker noted. 'This is merely one red flag that indicates incompetence.'
Fox Kennedy replaced former Rep. Dennis Kucinich as the campaign manager in October, shortly after RFK Jr. decided to end his challenge to President Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination and run for president as an Independent.
One staffer who resigned in protest complained to Kennedy in a resignation email that campaign leadership was 'severely mismanaging your bid for the White House.'
'I cannot in good conscience lend my talent, time, and efforts to an organization that is so amateurish, cavalier, and out of touch with the American voter,' the letter read.
The Kennedy campaign referred the Dailymail.com to a previous statement shared with Mediaite in response to the complaints.
'With over a hundred staff members and tens of thousands of volunteers nationwide, Team Kennedy has great folks come and go depending on the needs of each phase of the campaign. As the most successful independent campaign of the last three decades, we wish them nothing but the best,' the statement read.
