Trump cabinet member contacted crisis firm to bury bad press: NYT report

A member of Trump's cabinet was in contact with a crisis management firm to bury negative press as he made a push for a White House post, according to a new report.

"I need to be able to throw a ton of upvotes at the stuff that is rah rah rah for him, especially in conservative circles where it might get back to DJT," reads an email by Jed Wallace, an executive from The Agency Group, in reference to a job Robert F. Kennedy Jr asked him to do. The New York Times reported the communication between the Health and Human Services secretary and TAG on Friday.

Ostensibly a PR firm, TAG has also been accused by actor Blake Lively of being hired by actor Justin Baldoni to orchestrate a smear campaign against her. The NYT acquired emails from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the TAG executive after they were included in unsealed Manhattan federal court records, the paper reported. Lively's legal team had gathered them in a deposition during a lawsuit against another actor, according to the NYT.

Kennedy Jr. was in contact with TAG after he had dropped out of the race for president in 2024, but while he was seeking to catch Trump's attention for a cabinet job, per the NYT.

He contacted TAG to help him boost positive stories and "manage concerns" and negative publicity, according to the NYT. Wallace described in one email how he needs to "downvote everything that's acting as a drag" for Kennedy Jr.

Neither Kennedy Jr. nor Wallace provided a comment for the NYT, the paper reported.