RFK Jr. ballot access consultant charged with assault

By Aaron Pellish and Eva McKend, CNN

(CNN) — A high-ranking ballot access consultant for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s presidential campaign was charged with assault in Manhattan last week, the New York Police Department told CNN.

Trent Pool, a consultant who works closely with the team coordinating the independent candidate’s ballot access effort, was arrested early Saturday morning last week at the Soho Grand Hotel in Manhattan and charged with assault and criminal obstruction of breathing. A New York City police spokesperson told CNN an unidentified 25-year-old woman said that following a verbal dispute, Pool “wrapped his hand around her neck making it hard for her to breathe and then struck her in the face with a closed fist, causing pain.” The woman declined medical attention at the scene.

Pool was released on bond later in the day on Saturday, Pool’s attorney told CNN. His first court appearance is scheduled for June. The arrest was first reported by Mediaite.

Kennedy campaign spokesperson Stefanie Spear said in a statement to CNN, “Trent is a contractor. He tells us that the alleged incident never occurred.”

CNN reached out to Pool, who referred inquiries to his attorney. Pool’s attorney Gregory Esposito said in a statement to CNN, “Mr. Trent Pool is innocent of all charges and we look forward to demonstrating so in court.”

Pool has played an important role in the campaign’s ballot access strategy. He’s worked closely with Paul Rossi, the campaign’s main ballot access lawyer who has led it through legal challenges in a number of states, and ballot access director Nick Brana to shape strategy in various states, a campaign official told CNN.

Pool’s firm, Accelevate 2020, joined the Kennedy campaign in a federal lawsuit in Utah seeking to extend the state’s deadline for independent candidates to apply for ballot access. Rossi has previously represented Pool prior to joining the Kennedy campaign.

The Kennedy campaign has paid Accelevate 2020 nearly $390,000 for campaign consulting, federal campaign finance records show. Pool has helped incorporate professional petition circulators into the campaign’s signature gathering operation largely made up of volunteers, two sources familiar with the campaign told CNN.

American Values 2024, a super PAC backing Kennedy, paid $1.1 million for ballot access work this year to Public Appeal LLC, a firm founded by Pool and his brother, according to public records.

CNN has reached out to American Values 2024 for comment.

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