Exclusive: RFK Jr. Campaign Fired Top Staffer Who Raised Concerns About Finances
AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s 2024 campaign has fired its national finance director, as his long-shot bid for the presidency faces headwinds.
Multiple sources told Mediaite that Sheila Creal, a veteran Democratic bundler who worked on Biden’s 2020 bid, was fired by the Kennedy campaign on Jan. 26 after she scrutinized how the campaign was managing its finances. The sources said Creal raised questions about exorbitant spending and concerns about potential FEC issues.
Puck’s Teddy Schleifer reported on Tuesday that Creal had “quietly left” the Kennedy campaign last month, though he did not report why she left.
“She didn’t quit,” a source familiar with the situation said. “They abruptly let her go when she started looking into their finances and questioning their communication with American Values PAC,” a political action committee backing the campaign.
The Democratic National Committee filed a federal election complaint earlier this month accusing the Kennedy campaign and American Values of illegal coordination. The campaign and PAC both denied any impropriety.
Another source said Creal questioned “the financials in a lot of different ways, including FEC issues.”
Creal and the Kennedy campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Creal’s departure adds to the growing list of problems facing the Kennedy campaign. Mediaite reported earlier this month that fourteen staffers resigned at the start of the year. Those who spoke with Mediaite alleged disorganization, lavish spending, and a disconnect between the campaign and the candidate’s values as reasons for their departure.
This week, Puck’s Peter Hamby also reported that Kennedy’s effort to join the Libertarian ticket took a serious blow at the party’s California state convention. After speaking at the event, the scion came in last place at the convention’s straw poll.
A source close to the campaign who remains supportive of Kennedy lamented that the campaign has been so mismanaged. “The people love Bobby because he is so aligned with his core purpose to operate in truth and in integrity, and his goal is to help people, and the departure of the people around him from his core purpose is the saddest thing,” they said. “He would be devastated to learn what is going on with his name.”
