Samoa trip under scrutiny as Senator Wyden probes whether RFK Jr. lied to Congress

Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, has launched an investigation into whether Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lied to Congress about the purpose of a 2019 trip to Samoa. The probe, which centres on Kennedy's 2025 confirmation hearings, was set out in a letter to the anti-vaccine group Children's Health Defense (CHD), which Kennedy chaired at the time. The letter was sent on Wednesday and was co-signed by Maryland Senator Angela Alsobrooks.

What the letters show about the Samoa trip

During two confirmation hearings in January 2025, Kennedy told lawmakers that his visit to Samoa had "nothing to do with vaccines." Letters obtained by The Guardian and The Associated Press through an open records lawsuit brought by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press contradict that account, according to reporting by The Guardian.

In a January 2019 letter to the Samoan prime minister, sent before the trip, Kennedy said he wanted to study the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in the Pacific island nation. The prime minister responded a month later, saying Samoa could benefit from CHD's assessment of MMR vaccines and inviting him to visit.

The trip came months before a measles outbreak that eventually reached 5,700 cases and killed 83 people, mostly children under five, according to CNN and The Guardian. Earlier, Samoa had paused vaccinations after the deaths of two children who had received improperly mixed MMR vaccines. The government lifted the pause in April 2019, and immunisation rates fell sharply. Critics, including Samoan officials, have said Kennedy's presence encouraged anti-vaccine activists, a claim Kennedy denies.

Kennedy and HHS respond

Kennedy has said he never made a public statement about vaccines or discouraged Samoans from being vaccinated. He has also said the trip was unrelated to vaccines. HHS has called any suggestion that Kennedy lied under oath or to Congress "not only false but outright defamatory." HHS has not explained why his testimony differed from what he wrote to the Samoan prime minister.

The Guardian reported that Children's Health Defense did not respond to requests for comment. CNN also said that HHS and CHD had not immediately responded to its requests.

The scope of the request

The senators have asked CHD for documents related to any travel to Samoa by Kennedy or other associates, and for communications with Samoan government officials. They also seek records on Kennedy's presidential campaign, his confirmation process, his September speech to CHD's convention, and all communications between CHD and federal officials since 20 January 2025. CNN reported that Wyden's letter also sought broad records from Kennedy himself on his campaign and confirmation process.

The letter does not carry the legal force of a subpoena. Tim Stretton of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog, said it should be taken seriously, and that the committee could issue subpoenas if the requests are not met. Knowingly giving false testimony to Congress is a crime that can carry a prison sentence, though it is rarely prosecuted.

What we know so far

Wyden is expected to become chair of the Senate Finance Committee when Democrats take majority control in January. The Guardian reported that he had earlier called for a criminal investigation into Kennedy's testimony about the trip. Whether the inquiry leads to subpoenas or further action has not been decided, and no finding of wrongdoing has been made. Kennedy and HHS maintain that his testimony was accurate.