Documents reveal RFK Jr made false statements about Samoa trip during confirmation

Newly released emails suggest that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lied to Congress about a 2019 trip to Samoa. Kennedy is now the US health secretary. During his confirmation hearing in 2025, he said under oath that his Samoa visit had nothing to do with vaccines. However, emails from the State Department, obtained through a lawsuit, indicate he travelled there to promote doubts about vaccine safety. Shortly after his visit, a measles outbreak killed 83 people in Samoa, most of them children. Samoan officials have said Kennedy's trip gave more credibility to anti-vaccine activists before the outbreak. Several senators, including Ron Wyden and Edward Markey, have stated that the emails prove Kennedy lied to Congress.