Exclusive: Wellness CEO files ethics complaint against top RFK Jr. adviser
An internal battle has emerged inside the 'Make America Healthy Again' movement, with the CEO of a supplements company and a top adviser to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. leveling accusations against each other that include making threats of retribution, conflicts of interest and leaking false information to far-right activist Laura Loomer.
At the center of the fight are Peter Gillooly, CEO of The Wellness Company, and Calley Means, who in addition to serving as an adviser to RFK Jr. is the co-founder of a health care payments company and the brother of Casey Means, who was recently nominated to be the next surgeon general by President Donald Trump.
In a formal complaint to the Office of the Special Counsel and other agencies filed Saturday and obtained by POLITICO, Gillooly accuses Calley Means of abusing his position at HHS and violating the law prohibiting conflict of interest in government services by threatening to involve Kennedy and National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya in the dispute.
'If one more thing happens, I'm going to go to Jay Bhattacharya and Bobby and tell him that you and your cadre of Peter McCullough and Kelly Victory are spreading lies and trying to fuck with him and hurt his administration,' Means said, naming two members of the company's medical board, in a recording of a Saturday morning call between him and Gillooly obtained by POLITICO. (The transcript of the call is quoted in the complaint.)
During the call, Means accused The Wellness Company, a supplement vendor led by a medical board of vaccine opponents that is regularly promoted on conservative media, of leaking false information about his own company, Truemed, to Loomer. Truemed provides customers with doctors' letters that allow them to use pre-tax dollars to purchase health and wellness products via their health insurance plans.
'I am going to sue the shit out of you and escalate this if it continues,' said Means, who is currently serving as a special government employee. In that role, Means is allowed to serve in a temporary capacity without having to step away from his personal business.
The dispute puts on display the competing interests within Kennedy's MAHA movement which has swiftly gained power and influence during Trump's second term. The MAHA coalition has reshaped the federal government's approach to health care as Kennedy has ousted roughly 25 percent of HHS staff and empowered vaccine opponents, wellness entrepreneurs and alternative medicine advocates with little to no government experience.
'I received information that the Wellness Company was actively spreading provably false information about Truemed,' Means said in a statement to POLITICO. 'I called the CEO of the Wellness Company and threatened legal action if he continued to spread this provably false information. I noted I would prefer they stop spreading provably untrue information before I was forced to take legal action.'
A lawyer for Truemed sent a cease and desist letter to Gillooly and The Wellness Company founder Foster Coulson on Monday, stating they have reason to believe the company spread false information about Truemed with Loomer for the purposes of embarrassing a competitor, according to a copy of the letter obtained by POLITICO.
Coulson denies sharing information with Loomer. 'I have never spoken to Laura Loomer in my entire life,' Coulson told POLITICO. 'Using the government to essentially weaponize them against a private company is extremely concerning and is a tremendous threat.'
The confrontation appears to have been prompted by a Friday post on X from Loomer accusing Means and Truemed of committing tax fraud by auto-generating doctors' letters without authentic medical review.
Reached by POLITICO, Loomer denied being sent any information about Means and said she did not know Coulson. 'I look up stuff on my own,' Loomer said.
Means accused Coulson of sharing 'incorrect information' about Truemed with people like Loomer, possibly as part of an effort to cut in on Truemed's business. Following Truemed's business model could save The Wellness Company's customers 30-40 percent on their supplements, Means told Gillooly during the call. 'Now, that should be something that you guys partner with us on but since you guys have a telehealth platform and if you guys wanted to do that and compete that would be maybe even a good idea,' Means said.
'He clearly states that if I do not accept his accusation and comply — which I am not guilty of in the first place — he will sue myself and my business,' Gillooly wrote in the complaint. 'Additionally, Means threatens to blackmail my private corporation with HHS executive leadership if we do not comply with his demands, and extort my business into transacting with Truemed.'
'I think there needs to be a thorough investigation because this sort of behavior has no place in the federal government,' Gillooly told POLITICO.
The complaint was submitted Saturday to the Office of Special Counsel, HHS Office of Civil Rights, HHS Office of Inspector General and the Federal Trade Commission.
'In order to protect the integrity of our investigative process, HHS is unable to confirm any specific investigations or inquiries that may be taking place within the office,' an HHS spokesperson said in a statement. 'The Office of Civil Rights thoroughly reviews each complaint and determines if it has the legal authority to review and investigate the complaint.'
The Office of Special Counsel, which handles complaints of government employee wrongdoing, and the HHS inspector general declined to comment. The FTC did not respond to a request for comment.
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