Who is Nicole Shanahan, the philanthropist picked by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his running mate?

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Nicole Shanahan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 's pick to be his running mate in his independent bid for president, brings youth and considerable wealth to Kennedy’s long-shot campaign but is little known outside Silicon Valley.

Shanahan, 38, is a California lawyer and philanthropist. Shanahan leads the Bia-Echo Foundation, an organization she founded to direct money toward issues including women’s reproductive science, criminal justice reform and environmental causes. She also is a Stanford University fellow and was the founder and chief executive of ClearAccessIP, a patent management firm that was sold in 2020.

On Tuesday, Shanahan talked about her hardscrabble upbringing in Oakland, the daughter of a mother who immigrated from China and an Irish and German-American father “plagued by substance abuse” who “struggled to keep a job.” Touching on her family’s reliance on government assistance, Shanahan said that, although she had become “very wealthy later on in life,” she felt she could relate to Americans being “just one misfortune away from disaster.”

Nicole Shanahan speaks during a campaign event for Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. Shanahan has been picked as Kennedy Jr.'s running mate. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

“The purpose of wealth is to help those in need. That’s what it’s for,” Shanahan said. “And I want to bring that back to politics, too. That is the purpose of privilege.”

She also referenced discredited theories about vaccines as Kennedy and his allies have been accused of doing.

The attorney talked about her overall passion to help fight “chronic disease,” referencing her own struggles with fertility and her five-year-old daughter, who she said has autism. Shanahan cited “toxic substances in our environment,” “electromagnetic pollution” from devices like cellphones and — drawing her largest applause of the day — the lack of research surrounding long-term effects of childhood vaccinations.

“Our children are not well, our people are not well, and our country will not be well for very much longer, if we don’t heed this desperate call for attention," she said.

Any link between vaccines and autism has long been debunked, and repeated scientific studies in the U.S. and abroad have found no evidence that vaccines can cause autism. Research has also discredited concerns that children get too many vaccines at once.

Vaccines have been proven to be safe and effective in laboratory testing and in real world use in hundreds of millions of people over decades. The World Health Organization credits childhood vaccines with preventing as many as 5 million deaths a year.

Nicole Shanahan waves from the podium during a campaign event for Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. Shanahan has been picked as Kennedy Jr.'s running mate. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

While no medical intervention is risk-free, doctors and researchers have proven that risks from disease are generally far greater than the risks from vaccines.

Shanahan was married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin from 2018 to 2023, and they have a young daughter. She was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Kennedy made his announcement.

Before the announcement, Kennedy's campaign manager and daughter-in-law, Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, praised Shanahan's work on behalf of “honest governance, racial equity, regenerative agriculture and children’s and maternal health.” She said the work "reflects many of our country’s most urgent needs.”

Kennedy, who said in an interview Monday with “The State of California" on KCBS radio that his VP search placed a priority on ”somebody who could represent young people," said Tuesday that Shanahan — who he said, like him, has “left the Democratic Party” — also shares his concerns about government overreach and his distrust in major political parties' abilities to make lasting change.

Nicole Shanahan waves from the podium during a campaign event for Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. Shanahan has been picked as Kennedy Jr.'s running mate. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

“She’ll tell you that she now understands at the defense agencies work for the military industrial complex, that health agencies work for big pharma and the USDA works for big ag and the processed food cartels,” Kennedy said at his Oakland rally. “The EPA is in cahoots with the polluters, that the scientists can be mercenaries, that government officials sometimes act as censors, and that the Fed works for Wall Street and allows millionaire bankers to prey upon on Main Street and the American worker.”

Kennedy also said that, in part, Shanahan's heritage played at least some role in his selection of her.

“I wanted someone who would honor the traditions our nation, as a nation of immigrants, but who also understands that to be a nation, we need to secure borders,” he said.

Kennedy had previously signaled interest in picking a celebrity or a household name such as NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, “Dirty Jobs” star Mike Rowe or former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, who was a wrestler and actor.

According to campaign finance records, Shanahan has long donated to Democratic candidates, including giving the maximum amount allowed to Kennedy when he was still pursuing that party's nomination before switching to an independent bid in October.

It was unclear if Shanahan would use her own money on the campaign, but she has already opened her wallet to back Kennedy.

FILE - Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks during a campaign event at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

She was a driving force and the primary donor behind a Super Bowl ad produced by a pro-Kennedy super PAC, American Values 2024, for which she contributed $4 million. In response to criticism following the ad's release, the super PAC said its “idea, funding, and execution came primarily” from Shanahan.

The super PAC can accept unlimited funds but is legally barred from coordinating with Kennedy's team.

But as a candidate for vice president, Shanahan can give unlimited sums to the campaign directly. That's potentially a huge boost for Kennedy's expensive push to get on the ballot in all 50 states, an endeavor he has said will cost $15 million and require collecting more than 1 million signatures.

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://twitter.com/MegKinnardAP.

Jonathan J. Cooper contributed from Oakland.

Supporters of Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gather during a campaign event, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

FILE - Nicole Shanahan arrives at an event on Saturday, May 21, 2022, in Los Angeles. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has chosen Shanahan as his running mate for his independent presidential bid. The former Democrat made the announcement Tuesday, March 26, 2024, in Oakland, Calif. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — R&B singer Cassie was forced under cross-examination Thursday to read aloud to a jury her explicit messages with former boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs, some of which showed her expressing enthusiasm for Combs-directed encounters with other men that she previously testified had disgusted her.

Combs' lawyers began questioning the prosecution's star witness on the fourth day of the music mogul's sex trafficking trial in Manhattan, which is expected to last about two months. Federal prosecutors accuse Combs of exploiting his status as a powerful music executive and entrepreneur to violently force Cassie and other women to take part in these encounters with sex workers, which he called “freak-offs.”

Combs denies all the allegations and has pleaded not guilty. His lawyers are seeking to portray Cassie as a willing participate in Combs’ lifestyle, and say that while he could be violent, nothing he did amounted to a criminal enterprise. Defense attorney Anna Estevao read what Combs said in email and text exchanges, while Cassie recited what she wrote to him.

In one from August 2009, Combs asked her: “When do you want to freak off? Lol.”

“I’m always ready to freak off,” she replied.

Two days later, Cassie sent an explicit message to Combs.

“I can’t wait to watch you. I want you to get real hott,” he replied.

“Me Too, I just want it to be uncontrollable,” she said.

Cassie asked for a short break, which Judge Arun Subramanian granted, after yet more explicit messages were shown. This came a day after she was made to see still images from videos of sexual encounters during prosecutors’ questioning.

Prior to the start of the trial, Combs’ lawyers made clear that they intended to label a lot of the sexual behavior of their client as part of the swingers lifestyle.

Estevao asked Cassie directly whether she thought “freak-offs” were related to the swingers lifestyle. “In a sexual way,” Cassie responded, before adding: “They’re very different.”

The cross-examination had begun with gentil questioning by Estevao, as she had Cassie first read through warm and loving messages with Combs early in their relationship. Cassie testified that Combs was charismatic, with a larger-than-life personality. At the time, she said, “I had fallen in love with him and cared about him very much.”

Thursday's testimony and evidence was in contrast to the violence and shame Cassie said accompanied “hundreds” of her encounters with male sex workers that Combs watched and controlled during their relationship — which stretched from 2007 to 2018 and started when she was 19 and he was in his 30s.

She said the drug-fueled “freak-offs” would last hours and even days, with her sometimes taking IV fluids to recover and eventually developing an opioid addiction because it made her “feel numb” afterwards.

The 38-year-old Cassie, who is in the third trimester of pregnancy with her third child, has held up well on the witness stand. She testified Wednesday that Combs raped her when she broke up with him, and that he kept her locked in a life of physical abuse by threatening to release degrading sexual videos of her.

“I feared for my career. I feared for my family. It’s just embarrassing. It’s horrible and disgusting. No one should do that to anyone,” said Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura. The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has.

Combs initially appeared relaxed as cross examination got underway Thursday, sitting back in his chair with his legs crossed and conferring with his attorney Marc Agnifilo. The courtroom was packed with family and friends of Combs, journalists and a row of spectator seats occupied by Cassie’s supporters.

Cassie sued Combs in 2023, accusing him of years of physical and sexual abuse. Within hours, the suit was settled for $20 million — a figure Cassie disclosed for the first time Wednesday — but dozens of similar legal claims followed from other women.

Estevao asked Cassie if it was “fair to say” that Combs’ career was ruined after she sued him, making public for the first time the concept of “freak-offs.” Cassie responded, “I could understand that."

Combs, 55, has been jailed since September. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted.

Associated Press journalists Julie Walker in New York and Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.

FILE - Cassie Ventura, left, and Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrive at the Los Angeles premiere of "Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A Bad Boy Story" at the Writers Guild Theater, June 21, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP File)

Cassie Ventura takes an oath before testifying in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Sean Diddy'Combs, far left, and attorney Marc Agnifilo, right, sit at the defense table during witness testimony in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

FILE - Cassie Ventura, left, and Sean "Diddy" Combs appear at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating "China: Through the Looking Glass" in New York on May 4, 2015. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)

Cassie Ventura wipes tears from her eye while testifying in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)