Newly obtained documents are raising questions about the testimony of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Regarding a trip he took to Samoa in , prior to a significant measles outbreak. During his Senate confirmation hearings in , Kennedy repeatedly stated that the trip “had nothing to do with vaccines.” However, emails obtained by The Guardian and The Associated Press suggest a different narrative, indicating his concerns about vaccine safety may have been a motivating factor for the visit.
The documents reveal that Kennedy’s team actively sought connections with Samoan officials, and that a US embassy employee assisted in facilitating these contacts. This contradicts Kennedy’s later assertions that his purpose was unrelated to vaccination efforts. Specifically, emails show that Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine organization founded by Kennedy, attempted to connect him with Samoa’s prime minister. A January email requested the prime minister’s attention to a letter from Kennedy. Subsequent correspondence detailed logistical arrangements for the visit, including cost considerations.
The timing of Kennedy’s visit is particularly sensitive given the subsequent measles outbreak in Samoa, which began in late and resulted in over 80 deaths, primarily among children under five years of age. Samoan health officials have stated that Kennedy’s presence bolstered the credibility of anti-vaccine activists in the region, contributing to vaccine hesitancy and ultimately fueling the epidemic. Dr. Alec Ekeroma, Samoa’s Director-General of Health, has publicly denounced Kennedy’s statements as “a complete lie.”
The newly disclosed information has prompted concern from at least one US senator, Ron Wyden of Oregon, who stated that Kennedy’s “anti-vaccine agenda is directly responsible for the deaths of innocent children” and accused him of lying to Congress. Wyden suggested that Kennedy and his allies would be held accountable. Taylor Harvey, a spokesman for Wyden and other Democrats on the Senate finance committee, noted that making a false statement to Congress is a crime.
During questioning in , Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts pressed Kennedy on the purpose of the trip. Kennedy maintained his position, stating, “My purpose in going down there had nothing to do with vaccines.” When asked again if the trip had “nothing to do with vaccines,” Kennedy repeated his denial.
The documents also reveal that Kennedy met with Samoan health officials during his visit, including sharing his view that vaccines were not safe, according to NBC News. Kennedy has stated he went to Samoa to introduce a medical data system. He also met with anti-vaccine activists, including Edwin Tamasese, and was photographed greeting the prime minister at an Independence Day celebration.
The US Department of State provided the emails in response to an open records lawsuit filed with the assistance of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Many of the emails are heavily redacted. The records show that Benjamin Harding, a US embassy employee, played a role in facilitating Kennedy’s visit, connecting his delegation with Samoan government officials, despite internal concerns raised by other embassy staff. One embassy official alerted then-US Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, Scott Brown, to Kennedy’s visit and Harding’s involvement, noting that Kennedy’s purpose was to raise awareness about vaccine safety concerns.
Kennedy has consistently maintained that his visit did not influence vaccination decisions in Samoa, stating in a documentary, “I had nothing to do with people not vaccinating in Samoa. I never told anybody not to vaccinate.” He also claimed he was there to discuss the introduction of a medical informatics system and to observe the effects of a temporary pause in vaccinations.
The outbreak in Samoa was preceded by a period of declining vaccination rates, triggered by the suspension of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine program following reports of adverse reactions to improperly prepared vaccines in . This created a vulnerable population susceptible to the highly contagious measles virus.
These revelations come at a time when the United States is experiencing a resurgence of measles cases, threatening to reverse decades of progress toward elimination of the disease. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports over 875 cases in South Carolina alone. As Health and Human Services Secretary, Kennedy has been actively working to overhaul federal immunization guidance and raise public skepticism about vaccine safety, including the measles vaccine, raising concerns about the potential impact of his policies on public health.
Lyn Redwood, the former president of Children’s Health Defense, is now employed at the Department of Health and Human Services, reportedly working on vaccine safety. During the measles outbreak in Samoa, Kennedy wrote a letter to the prime minister suggesting, without evidence, that the infections were due to a defective vaccine.
