RFK Jr. Faces Senate Inquiry Over Testimony on 2019 Samoa Trip
Two Democratic senators have opened an investigation into whether Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lied to Congress about why he visited Samoa in 2019.
Two Democratic senators have opened an investigation into whether Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lied to Congress about why he visited Samoa in 2019. They are demanding records from the anti-vaccine group he once chaired.
Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland sent the letter on Wednesday to Children's Health Defense (CHD). Wyden is the incoming chair of the Senate Finance Committee.
"We are beginning an investigation into evidence that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy, Jr unlawfully lied to Congress on multiple occasions," the letter said.
What the senators want
The lawmakers asked CHD for a broad set of documents. They cover Kennedy's Samoa travel, his 2024 presidential campaign and his Senate confirmation process. Wyden is seeking all records tied to the 2019 trip.
The probe is one of many investigations Democrats plan into the Trump administration. They regained control of the House and Senate in the midterm elections.
The testimony and the documents
During his 2025 confirmation hearings, Kennedy repeatedly told senators his Samoa visit had "nothing to do with vaccines." Those lawmakers held the key to his confirmation.
Documents published in August pointed the other way. A letter Kennedy sent to Samoa's prime minister before the trip, on CHD letterhead, showed otherwise, according to that reporting. The senators cited it in their letter.
The trip came just months before a deadly measles outbreak. In 2018, a bad batch of the MMR vaccine led to the deaths of two children in Samoa, and the government halted all vaccinations for 10 months. Measles then surged, killing 83 people, most of them children under 5.
Kennedy has faced Democratic scrutiny before. In June, Wyden and Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire demanded records from his department on changes to federal vaccine policy, including the overhaul of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. Kennedy fired all of its previous members last year.
The new letter asks CHD to turn over the requested records, which would be the next step in the inquiry.
