Two Democratic senators open inquiry into RFK Jr.'s testimony about his 2019 Samoa trip

WASHINGTON (Nov. 12) — Two Democratic senators have opened an inquiry into whether Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave false testimony to Congress about a 2019 trip to Samoa, The Associated Press reported Thursday.

Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland made the request in a letter sent Wednesday to Children's Health Defense, the nonprofit Kennedy formerly chaired. They asked for records on travel to Samoa by Kennedy and the group's associates, communications with Samoan officials, Kennedy's 2024 presidential campaign and his Senate confirmation, along with the group's communications with federal officials since January 2025, according to the AP and The Guardian, which obtained the letter. Wyden is the incoming chair of the Senate Finance Committee when Democrats take the majority in January.

During his January 2025 confirmation hearings, Kennedy told senators the Samoa visit had "nothing to do with vaccines." Letters obtained by the AP and The Guardian through an open records lawsuit show he wrote to Samoa's then-prime minister in January 2019 saying he wanted his team to study the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine there, the AP reported. The Guardian reported that the prime minister wrote back a month later and invited him to come. A measles outbreak in Samoa months after the trip killed 83 people, most of them young children, according to The Guardian.

"We intend to hold Secretary Kennedy accountable for any false statements made to Congress," the senators wrote, according to The Guardian. The letter does not carry the force of a subpoena, and the group was given until Dec. 4 to respond.

Kennedy has said he never made public statements about vaccines in Samoa or discouraged anyone there from getting vaccinated. HHS has previously said the visit was "unrelated to vaccines" and called claims that Kennedy lied under oath "false" and "defamatory," The Guardian reported. Children's Health Defense did not respond to requests for comment, according to The Guardian.