Newly revealed emails suggest that Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary, misled the Senate during his confirmation hearings about a trip he took to Samoa in 2019, several members of Congress and Hawaii's governor have said. The emails, obtained by the Guardian and the Associated Press, show that US embassy and United Nations staff wrote shortly before Kennedy's visit that he was coming because of his concerns about vaccine safety. Kennedy had repeatedly denied that the trip, which preceded a deadly measles outbreak, had "nothing to do with vaccines".
The outbreak in Samoa sickened thousands and killed 83 people, mostly children under five. Samoan officials later said Kennedy's visit boosted the credibility of anti-vaccine activists. Hawaii's governor, a doctor who responded to the crisis, said the disclosures showed Kennedy misled the Senate and should step down. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, who questioned Kennedy during the hearings, said in a social media post: "RFK Jr is a liar. He lied to me about his anti-vax Samoa trip." He added that making false statements to Congress is a federal crime.
Democratic Representative Haley Stevens of Michigan, who has introduced articles of impeachment against Kennedy, said the reporting showed he lied to Congress and that this was another impeachable offence. "With measles cases skyrocketing nationwide driven by RFK Jr’s nonstop stream of conspiracy theories, it’s time for Congress to put politics aside and support my Articles of Impeachment," she said in a statement. Stevens's effort is considered unlikely to succeed because the House is controlled by Republicans and Democratic leadership reportedly opposes it.
Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, who also questioned Kennedy about the trip, told the Guardian that Kennedy had lied about his role in Samoa and that "he and his allies will be held responsible". Kennedy's spokespeople at the Department of Health and Human Services did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Kennedy has maintained that he is not anti-vaccine, though he has raised safety concerns about the measles vaccine as measles spreads in the US. The Guardian and AP obtained the emails through a lawsuit brought by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
The Samoa crisis began in July 2018 after two babies died following administration of a measles, mumps and rubella vaccine that had been improperly mixed with an expired muscle relaxant. The government suspended the vaccination programme for months, leaving many children unprotected. Kennedy's anti-vaccine group, Children’s Health Defense, had started trying to reach Samoan officials through a local activist in January 2019, and Kennedy visited that June, meeting the prime minister and health officials.
