Newly obtained emails undermine RFK Jr.'s testimony about 2019 Samoa trip before measles outbreak

Over 2 days of questioning during his Senate confirmation hearings past year, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. repeated the aforesaid answer.

He said the intimately scrutinized 2019 travel helium took to Samoa, which came earlier a devastating measles outbreak, had “nothing to bash with vaccines.”

Documents obtained by The Guardian and The Associated Press undermine that testimony. Emails sent by staffers astatine the U.S. Embassy and the United Nations provide, for the archetypal time, an wrong look astatine however Kennedy’s travel came astir and see contemporaneous accounts suggesting his concerns astir vaccine information motivated the visit.

The documents person prompted concerns from astatine slightest 1 U.S. legislator that the lawyer and activistic present starring America’s wellness argumentation lied to Congress implicit the visit. Samoan officials aboriginal said Kennedy’s travel bolstered the credibility of anti-vaccine activists up of the measles outbreak, which sickened thousands of radical and killed 83, mostly children nether property 5.

The revelations, which travel arsenic measles outbreaks erupt crossed the U.S., physique connected erstwhile disapproval that Kennedy’s anti-vaccine grounds makes him unfit to service arsenic wellness secretary, a relation successful which helium has worked to radically reshape immunization argumentation and nationalist perceptions of vaccines.

The recently disclosed documents besides uncover antecedently chartless details of the trip, including that a U.S. Embassy worker helped Kennedy’s squad link with Samoan officials. Kennedy, past moving his anti-vaccine radical Children’s Health Defense, did not publically sermon the travel astatine the time, but helium has since said his “purpose” for going determination was not related to vaccines and "I ended up having conversations with people, immoderate of whom I ne'er intended to meet.” Besides gathering with anti-vaccine activists, Kennedy met with Samoan officials, including the wellness curate astatine the time, who told NBC News that Kennedy shared his presumption that vaccines were not safe. Kennedy has said helium went determination to present a aesculapian information system.

The U.S. State Department turned implicit the emails — galore of which are heavy redacted — arsenic a effect of an unfastened records suit brought with the assistance of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

These disclosures travel astatine a clip erstwhile Kennedy, arsenic President Donald Trump’s wellness secretary, has utilized his powerfulness and tremendous nationalist power to overhaul national immunization guidance and rise suspicion astir the information and value of vaccines, including the measles vaccine. Meanwhile, measles outbreaks successful aggregate U.S. states person rolled backmost decades of occurrence successful eliminating the highly contagious disease, putting the state connected the verge of losing its elimination status. The latest figures amusement much than 875 radical successful South Carolina person been infected.

Kennedy addressed questions astir his travel to Samoa during 2 Senate confirmation hearings for his assignment arsenic wellness secretary.

“My intent successful going down determination had thing to bash with vaccines,” helium said nether questioning by Democratic Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts successful his Jan. 30, 2025, hearing.

“Did the travel person thing to bash with vaccines arsenic you told my colleagues successful Senate Finance yesterday?” Markey asked later.

“Nothing to bash with vaccines,” Kennedy replied.

One of the senators who questioned Kennedy astir Samoa during his confirmation hearings, Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, responded to the records by saying, “Kennedy’s anti-vaccine docket is straight liable for the deaths of guiltless children.”

“Lying to Congress astir his relation successful the deadly measles outbreak successful Samoa lone underscores the information helium present poses to families crossed America,” Wyden said successful an email. “He and his allies volition beryllium held responsible.”

Taylor Harvey, a spokesperson for Wyden and different Democrats connected the Senate Finance Committee, said it is simply a transgression to marque a mendacious connection to Congress and “casual, mendacious denials to Congress volition not beryllium swept nether the rug.”

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to questions sent by email and substance message.

Kennedy has said his sojourn did not power people’s decisions connected whether to get themselves oregon their children immunized.

“I had thing to bash with radical not vaccinating successful Samoa. I ne'er told anybody not to vaccinate,” helium told the 2023 documentary “Shot successful the Arm.” “I didn’t, you know, spell determination for immoderate crushed to bash with that.”

Anti-vaccine activists successful the United States became funny successful Samoa successful July 2018, erstwhile 2 babies died aft being injected with a tainted measles, mumps and rubella, oregon MMR, vaccine that had been improperly prepared. The authorities halted the vaccine programme for 10 months, until the pursuing April. Vaccination rates plummeted.

The records amusement that during the clip erstwhile nary vaccines were being administered, Kennedy’s group, Children’s Health Defense, was trying to link Kennedy with Samoa’s premier minister. A January 2019 email from the group’s then-president, Lyn Redwood, to Samoan activistic Edwin Tamasese asked him to “please stock this missive with the Honorable Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi for Robert Kennedy, Jr.”

About 2 months later, Tamasese wrote backmost to Redwood, with a cc: to Kennedy and others.

“Hope each is well, organizing logistics with the PMs bureau and wanted to corroborate however galore radical are coming? Also conscionable wanted to corroborate costs etc for the sojourn and however this volition beryllium handled,” helium wrote.

Tamasese instantly forwarded the concatenation of messages to the idiosyncratic and authorities email accounts of Benjamin Harding, astatine the clip an worker of the U.S. Embassy successful Apia, Samoa.

“just sent this. expecting an reply time arsenic I deliberation it is Sunday there. your missive looks good,” Tamasese told Harding.

While the U.S. Embassy successful the past has acknowledged that an unnamed staffer attended an lawsuit with Kennedy and anti-vaccine activists portion helium was successful Samoa, the records amusement that Harding wasn’t a passive attendee: He helped put Kennedy’s sojourn and connected Kennedy’s delegation with Samoan authorities officials.

In a May 23, 2019, email to Harding’s idiosyncratic email address, a staffer for the Samoan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade wrote: “Hi Benj, Currently awaiting the authoritative bio-notes for Mr Kennedy and Dr Graven to convey to the Hon. Prime Minister and Hon. Minister of Health for their reference. Please note, that this needs to beryllium sent with our authoritative missive erstwhile requesting an appointment.”

Harding forwarded the ministry’s petition to Dr. Michael Graven, past the main accusation serviceman astatine Children’s Health Defense.

Harding did not respond to messages seeking remark sent to respective listed email addresses, societal media accounts, a telephone fig listed to his parents and a wide mailbox astatine a institution helium lists arsenic a existent workplace connected his LinkedIn profile.

Embassy staffers got a extremity astir Harding’s engagement successful the travel from Sheldon Yett, past the typical for Pacific land countries astatine UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund.

“We present recognize that the Prime Minister has invited Robert Kennedy and his squad to travel to Samoa to analyse the information of the vaccine,” Yett wrote successful a May 22, 2019, email to an embassy staffer based successful New Zealand. “The unit subordinate successful question seems to person had a relation successful facilitating this.”

Two days later, a apical embassy unit subordinate successful Apia wrote to Scott Brown, past the Republican U.S. president's ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, alerting him to Kennedy’s travel and Harding’s involvement.

“The existent crushed Kennedy is coming is to rise consciousness astir vaccinations, much specifically immoderate of the wellness concerns associated with vaccinating (from his constituent of view),” the embassy official, Antone Greubel, wrote. “It turns retired our precise ain Benjamin Harding played immoderate relation successful a idiosyncratic capableness to bring him here.” Greubel wrote that helium told Harding to “cease and desist from immoderate further engagement with this travel,” though the remainder of the condemnation is redacted.

Yett did not respond to questions, though helium said successful an email, “that was a precise grim clip successful Samoa.”

Brown, who is moving for the U.S. Senate successful New Hampshire, declined to comment. Greubel referred questions to a property bureau astatine the State Department. A State Department spokesperson would not reply questions astir the records, saying that arsenic a wide signifier they bash not remark connected unit matters.

Harding near the embassy successful July 2020, though helium remains successful Samoa, according to his LinkedIn account.

Kennedy yet visited successful June 2019. While there, helium and his wife, histrion Cheryl Hines, were photographed greeting the premier curate during an Independence Day celebration. He besides met with authorities wellness officials arsenic good arsenic a radical of figures who person formed uncertainty connected vaccines, including Tamasese.

The Guardian and the AP could find nary grounds of Kennedy publically discussing the intent of his travel until aft measles struck. In 2021, helium wrote that helium went determination to sermon “the instauration of a aesculapian informatics system” to way cause safety. He said Samoan officials “were funny to measurement wellness outcomes pursuing the ‘natural experiment’ created by the nationalist respite from vaccines.”

Since then, helium has said his crushed for going to Samoa was not related to vaccines.

Redwood, the erstwhile Children’s Health Defense president who made aboriginal outreach to Samoa, is present an worker astatine HHS, reportedly moving connected vaccine safety.

During the measles outbreak, Kennedy wrote a four-page missive to Samoa’s premier curate suggesting without grounds that the measles infections were owed to a defective vaccine and floating different unfounded theories.

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This communicative was jointly reported and published by The Guardian and The Associated Press.