Newly obtained correspondence reported by the Associated Press and The Guardian shows Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sent a Jan. 20, 2019 letter to Samoa’s prime minister before a May–June 2019 visit that explicitly sought to study the nation’s MMR vaccine program. The letter, written on Children’s Health Defense letterhead, used the words vaccine or vaccination eight times and proposed a “detailed health informatics assessment” to investigate whether the deaths of two children might have been caused by manufacturing or lot issues. These documents conflict with statements Kennedy made during his later confirmation process in which he repeatedly said the Samoa trip had “nothing to do with vaccines.”
During his confirmation hearings for secretary of Health and Human Services, Kennedy faced repeated questioning from senators concerned about his prior anti-vaccine activism. On multiple occasions he denied that his 2019 Samoa visit involved vaccines. To Sen. Ron Wyden, he said, “I went there, nothing to do with vaccines. I went there to introduce a medical informatics system that would digitalize records in Samoa and make health delivery much more efficient.” To Sen. Edward Markey he likewise said, “My purpose in going down there had nothing to do with vaccines.” He added that his trip’s purpose was not to discuss vaccines and that some conversations with people he met were unplanned.
Kennedy’s denials were part of broader assurances he made to skeptical lawmakers — including Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy — that he would maintain existing vaccine policies and advisory structures if confirmed. Cassidy later said those commitments were violated when Kennedy, once in office, removed all 17 members of a federal vaccine advisory committee and appointed his own advisers.
The centerpiece of the reporting is a letter dated Jan. 20, 2019 from Kennedy to then-Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi. In it, Kennedy described his desire to study Samoa’s use of MMR vaccine, proposed conducting a “detailed health informatics assessment,” and raised the possibility that the two children’s deaths could have been linked to manufacturing or lot problems. The letter noted that assessing adverse health events tied to vaccines can be difficult worldwide because health information systems are rarely designed to rapidly link diagnoses with specific vaccination events.
The prime minister replied roughly a month later, expressing that Samoa would benefit from an independent assessment of MMR vaccines and welcoming Kennedy’s team’s proposed visit. His response included a representative from the U.S. Embassy on the communication. The source reports that Children’s Health Defense did not provide comment when asked.
Samoa’s crisis began in July 2018 after two young children died following administration of a tainted MMR dose that had been improperly prepared. The nurses involved were criminally charged and later pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The Samoan government halted vaccinations for about 10 months, until April 2019, and vaccination rates fell dramatically during that suspension.
Kennedy, at the time a prominent leader of Children’s Health Defense, and a small delegation including his wife and a CHD colleague visited Samoa in May–June 2019 after vaccinations had resumed and Samoan health officials had publicly attributed the two deaths to human error rather than a vaccine formulation issue. While in Samoa, Kennedy met with anti-vaccine activists, including individuals who helped facilitate the trip with a U.S. Embassy employee, according to the reporting. Months later, with coverage still low, Samoa experienced a severe measles outbreak that sickened thousands and killed 83 people, mostly children under age 5.
Public health officials and others have said efforts to control the outbreak were complicated by persistent vaccine hesitancy and activism. The reporting notes critics have argued that Kennedy’s visit emboldened anti-vaccine elements in Samoa, although the letter itself did not explicitly discuss advocacy or organizing.
The Department of Health and Human Services provided a statement saying the Samoa visit “was unrelated to vaccines” and objected to claims that Kennedy had lied or misled Congress, calling such insinuations false and defamatory. The source also notes Kennedy was not under oath during his confirmation hearing; nevertheless, experts cited in the reporting observe that knowingly giving materially false testimony to Congress is a crime, though prosecutions are rare.
Legal experts referenced by the reporting said senators could, if they chose, use the discrepancy between Kennedy’s testimony and the letters as grounds for hearings, an impeachment inquiry, or other oversight actions. The story notes such actions are unlikely under the Republican-led Congress aligned with the administration at the time.
The documents add detail to the timeline of Kennedy’s engagement with Samoa during a sensitive period of disrupted vaccination and subsequent outbreak. They show a pre-visit outreach that framed the group’s interest in technical review of MMR vaccines and proposed a formal assessment linking vaccination events to health outcomes. The source reports that the letter did not explicitly discuss anti-vaccine activism, and it does not provide additional internal CHD communications beyond the letter and cited email exchanges.
Taken together, the correspondence and the later denial in testimony raise questions about transparency during confirmation and about potential influence on vaccine confidence in a country that later experienced a deadly measles outbreak. The reporting documents responses from HHS and notes that some senators and public health observers have characterized Kennedy’s statements as misleading, while also reporting that substantive congressional action in response is unlikely under current political conditions.