Former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he is under federal investigation for allegedly removing a whale’s head with a chainsaw and transporting it across state lines in the 1990s. Speaking during a recent Trump campaign event in Glendale, Arizona over the weekend, Kennedy said he believes the probe is politically motivated.
“Right after I endorsed President Trump, I received a letter from the National Marine Fisheries Institute saying they were investigating me for collecting a whale specimen 20 years ago,” Kennedy told a crowd at Arizona Christian University.
The origins of the allegation trace back to a story shared by his daughter, Kick Kennedy, in a 2012 magazine interview . When the whale beheading claims resurfaced in the media last month, it prompted the Center for Biological Diversity to call on federal authorities to look into the incident. The organization raised concerns that Kennedy may have violated several environmental laws in handling and transporting the whale remains.