Letters obtained by the Guardian and the Associated Press show Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Samoa’s prime minister before a 2019 trip that he wanted to study the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine there, using the words vaccine or vaccination eight times and proposing a “detailed health informatics assessment” after saying two children’s deaths following an MMR dose might stem from manufacturing issues. Those letters contradict Kennedy’s statements at two congressional confirmation hearings last year in which he told senators the Samoa visit had “nothing to do with vaccines.” At the time of the trip Kennedy chaired a nonprofit known for anti-vaccine activism; the visit occurred months before a measles outbreak that killed 83 people on the island. The Department of Health and Human Services called claims that Kennedy lied to Congress “false” and “defamatory” and noted he was not under oath during those hearings. Legal experts quoted by the Guardian said knowingly giving materially false testimony to Congress is a crime and that Democrats, if they regain control of a chamber, could use the discrepancy as grounds for hearings, an impeachment inquiry, or other obstacles for the administration.
