Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has amended his annual financial ethics disclosure to reveal he accepted more than $250,000 worth of free flights to Fiji and Greece, plus the use of a vacation home in Washington, D.C., all courtesy of a longtime friend and major campaign donor. The updated filing shows nearly $45,000 in roundtrip airfare to Greece and almost $97,000 in roundtrip flights to Fiji, on top of the D.C. lodging.
The gifts came from Gavin de Becker, a security consultant and longtime supporter of Kennedy, according to the amended disclosure obtained through a records request by The Wall Street Journal. De Becker owns a private compound in Fiji where Kennedy stayed, and he separately provided Kennedy access to a vacation home in the same city where Kennedy now works overseeing federal health policy, according to The Daily Beast.
De Becker defended the arrangement in statements to reporters, explaining that he and Kennedy have been close friends for years and that their families take annual vacations together. The framing matters under federal rules: Title 5, Section 2635.204 of the Code of Federal Regulations generally bars executive branch employees from accepting gifts from outside sources, but carves out an exception for gifts clearly motivated by personal friendship, so long as the donor pays for them personally, per the Legal Information Institute.
A Donor's History With Kennedy Runs Deep
De Becker is the founder and chairman of Gavin de Becker and Associates, a Los Angeles-based private security firm founded in 1978 that has handled threat management for high-profile clients including Jeff Bezos, Madonna, and Cher. The firm also provided private security for Kennedy's 2024 presidential campaign, and de Becker was one of Kennedy's largest financial backers that cycle, contributing roughly $14 million to the pro-Kennedy Super PAC American Values 2024 — though $9.65 million of that was later refunded as what was described as bridge funding.
That loan arrangement drew scrutiny even before Kennedy joined the cabinet. The Democratic National Committee filed an FEC complaint in March 2024 over the structure of the arrangement, according to the same reporting. Federal gift regulations add another wrinkle to the personal-friendship exception: they require that the qualifying gift come directly from an individual rather than an organization or corporate entity, per guidance from the Department of Justice. Kennedy's spokesperson has said he consulted HHS ethics officers regarding compliance.
Book Deals and Cabinet Gifts Round Out the Filing
The amended disclosure was not limited to de Becker's largesse. It also detailed a roughly $900 private jet flight to Aspen, Colorado, from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and box seats to a WWE event from Education Secretary Linda McMahon, according to Mediaite. The filing showed Kennedy's book advances from Skyhorse Publishing topping $4 million, including $2 million each for two forthcoming titles, Unsettled Science and A Defense for Israel.
Skyhorse chief executive Tony Lyons, who has known Kennedy since around 2010, helped bankroll the Make America Healthy Again movement and co-founded the American Values 2024 Super PAC alongside de Becker's financial support, the outlet's reporting notes. The disclosure also showed Kennedy's reported credit card debt falling to between $125,000 and $265,000, down from more than $600,000 reported in 2025, while his bitcoin holdings were listed at between $1 million and $5 million.
Kennedy's outside financial ties have drawn attention alongside his official duties at HHS. Hoodline previously reported on scrutiny of his conference appearance amid measles deaths, and on his push to reshape HHS communications through a podcast aimed at what he has called “sickening lies.” The newly amended filing adds fresh detail to the financial web surrounding Kennedy's cabinet tenure — one built, in part, on relationships that predate his time in government by years.
