Disclosures detail housing, airfare from security consultant alongside Skyhorse advances

The advances flowed from Skyhorse Publishing, whose owner Tony Lyons also serves as president of the Maha Center, a nonprofit that describes itself as “tackling America’s health crisis through education, investigation, innovation and action.” The Guardian reviewed the 2026 financial disclosure forms; the New York Times first reported the advances on Wednesday.

Kennedy has published several books with Skyhorse, including “The Real Anthony Fauci” and “The Wuhan Cover-Up.” According to a 2024 ethics filing reviewed by the Guardian, Kennedy pledged: “I will not engage in writing, editing, marketing or promotional services for any of these books during government service.”

The disclosure forms also documented gifts Kennedy accepted from Gavin de Becker, a security consultant and longtime Kennedy ally. De Becker provided the secretary with $126,500 worth of housing at a Washington, D.C. “vacation home” he controls, the filings show. De Becker also gave Kennedy nearly $45,000 in roundtrip airfare to Greece and nearly $97,000 in roundtrip airfare to Fiji. The Wall Street Journal has reported that de Becker owns a compound in Fiji.

De Becker donated at least $10 million to Kennedy’s Super PAC in 2024, with $9.65 million of that sum later returned, according to Politico. De Becker has also published his own book with Skyhorse: “Forbidden Facts: Government Deceit and Suppression About Brain Damage From Childhood Vaccines.”

In a statement to the New York Times, an HHS spokesperson said Kennedy “complies with all applicable federal ethics laws, regulations and financial disclosure requirements.” “The secretary works with HHS, career ethics officials to ensure that his financial interests, gifts, outside activities and other reportable matters are appropriately disclosed and handled consistent with those requirements,” the spokesperson added.

De Becker, asked about the gifts, told the outlet: “Bobby is among my closest friends in the world for many years, and I’m grateful to be able to host him anytime … He has hosted my family at his homes, he’s stayed at my homes, we take family vacations together every year, and did so for years before he was in his current job.”

The disclosures also reported that Kennedy’s wife, Cheryl Hines, accepted $210,000 in consultation fees from the nonprofit advocacy group Maha Action, which Lyons also leads.

Kedric Payne, a senior ethics counsel at the Campaign Legal Center, told the New York Times: “Lavish gifts to an official from major political donors don’t get the same benefit of the doubt as dinner from a former classmate … The public deserves full transparency about the nature of these gifts and any interests the donor has before the government.”

The Guardian reported that it had reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services, de Becker and Lyons for additional comment.