Sen. Ron Wyden launched a formal investigation into HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on November 12, 2026, citing evidence Kennedy lied during his 2025 confirmation hearings by claiming his June 2019 Samoa trip had 'nothing to do with vaccines.' A January 2019 letter to the Samoan PM used 'vaccine' or 'vaccination' eight times. Children's Health Defense must produce records by December 4, 2026. A measles outbreak killed 83 people in Samoa after Kennedy's visit.
Senate investigation launch
- ▪Senator Ron Wyden sent a letter to Children's Health Defense requesting extensive records, including all documents related to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s 2019 trip to Samoa
- ▪Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon launched an investigation into evidence that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. unlawfully lied to Congress during his 2025 confirmation hearings
Kennedy's Samoa trip
- ▪The Samoan prime minister responded to Kennedy's January 2019 letter approximately one month later, saying Samoa could benefit from Children's Health Defense's assessment of MMR vaccines and inviting Kennedy to visit
- ▪Robert F. Kennedy Jr. traveled to Samoa on June 1, 2019 in his capacity as chair and chief legal counsel of Children's Health Defense
- ▪In a January 2019 letter to the Samoan prime minister before his trip, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. explicitly stated he wanted to study the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in Samoa, using the words 'vaccine' or 'vaccination' eight times
Contradictory congressional testimony
- ▪During two congressional confirmation hearings in January 2025, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told lawmakers that his visit to Samoa had 'nothing to do with vaccines.'
- ▪Knowingly giving material false testimony to Congress is a crime that carries a possible prison sentence, though it is rarely prosecuted
- ▪Letters obtained by the Guardian and the Associated Press through an open records lawsuit contradicted Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s congressional testimony that his Samoa trip had nothing to do with vaccines
- ▪The Department of Health and Human Services stated that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s visit to Samoa was 'unrelated to vaccines' and called claims that Kennedy lied under oath during his 2025 confirmation hearings 'not only false but outright defamatory.'
CHD political network
- ▪Since taking office as HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hired former Children's Health Defense employees, including Lyn Redwood, a former CHD president, who now works at HHS reportedly on vaccine safety
- ▪Stefanie Spear, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s closest adviser at HHS, ran Children's Health Defense's newsletter before joining his 2024 presidential campaign
- ▪Robert F. Kennedy Jr. headlined Children's Health Defense's annual conference in September 2026, where he made false and misleading claims about the safety of vaccines
Democratic accountability push
- ▪Incoming senator Annie Andrews, a pediatrician from South Carolina, has been calling for Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s impeachment since her Senate campaign
- ▪Senator Ron Wyden previously called for a criminal referral of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to the Department of Justice in August 2026 over Kennedy's Senate testimony about his Samoa trip
- ▪Bernie Sanders, incoming chair of the Senate committee on health, education, labor and pensions, said he is open to impeaching Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
- ▪Senator Angela Alsobrooks, a member of the Senate committee on health, education, labor and pensions, has repeatedly called on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to resign or be fired
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