Democratic senators investigate Kennedy’s testimony about Samoa trip

Sens.

Ron Wyden and Angela Alsobrooks are investigating Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over what he told Congress about a 2019 trip to Samoa.

Kennedy told senators the visit had nothing to do with vaccines, but a letter he sent Samoa’s prime minister before the trip discussed studying the country’s use of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine.

The senators want to know whether Kennedy made false statements to Congress.

Samoa had paused vaccinations after two children died from improperly mixed MMR vaccines, and vaccination rates fell.

A measles outbreak later killed 83 people in Samoa, mostly children under five, and sickened thousands.

The senators requested documents from Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine group Kennedy led until 2024, including records about the trip and his confirmation process; they set a Dec.

4 deadline.

Knowingly giving materially false testimony to Congress is a crime, though it is rarely prosecuted; the Department of Health and Human Services has said the Samoa visit was unrelated to vaccines.