Robert F Kennedy Jr told the US Senate his 2019 trip to Samoa had nothing to do with vaccines. Newly released emails tell a different story.
Documents obtained by the Guardian show that Kennedy's colleague at Children's Health Defense, Dr Michael Graven, described the Pacific island visit as a vaccine-related "mission" in messages to Samoan officials. Graven said he and Kennedy were traveling to study medical records and evaluate "outcomes associated with the recent discontinuity in vaccinations."
"The mission involves health informatics evaluation from medical record data from all hospitals and clinics in Samoa to evaluate outcomes associated with the recent discontinuity in vaccinations," Graven wrote in a May 13, 2019 email. "Mr Kennedy asked me to join this mission as I have performed health informatics initiatives in 48 other countries over 40 years."
At his Senate confirmation hearing last year, Kennedy repeatedly insisted his purpose was different. When asked directly by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, Kennedy responded: "I went there, nothing to do with vaccines. I went there to introduce a medical informatics system with digitalized records in Samoa and make health delivery much more efficient."
The following day, under questioning from Senator Edward Markey of Massachusetts, Kennedy said again: "My purpose in going down there had nothing to do with vaccines."
The timing of Kennedy's visit carries significant weight. Samoa had suspended all vaccinations for 10 months after two infants died in 2018 following injections with a tainted measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. Vaccination rates plummeted during that pause. Kennedy's organization, Children's Health Defense, began outreach to Samoan officials during this period, according to previously obtained emails.
Kennedy arrived in Samoa on May 30, 2019, just weeks after vaccinations had resumed at historically low rates. A few months later, a measles outbreak swept through the island nation, infecting thousands and killing 83 people, mostly children under five years old.
Samoan government officials later stated that Kennedy's visit bolstered the credibility of anti-vaccine activists in their country. The State Department released the new emails in batches beginning in January as part of an ongoing open records lawsuit assisted by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Graven, a pediatrician who died in 2022, detailed his planned work in multiple emails. He said he would perform "statistical investigations" and collect data from all hospitals and clinics in Samoa. In March, he wrote that he would be accompanying Kennedy as "the Health Informatician who will be performing the statistical investigations."
Yet a State Department employee stationed in Samoa noted in an email dated June 4 that Graven and Kennedy left only days after arriving. "Based on conversations with my contacts RFK and Dr [Graven] fell far short of their goal to influence Samoan government vaccination policy," the official wrote.
The discrepancy between Kennedy's stated purpose and the documented mission raises questions about the accuracy of his Senate testimony. Senator Ron Wyden issued a statement saying the new findings "offer more proof that Robert Kennedy is a liar on a mission to take vaccines away from kids who need them."
Kennedy has long advocated for studies comparing the health of vaccinated and unvaccinated children. His 2023 book, "Vax-UnVax: Let the Science Speak," explicitly calls for such research. Since becoming health secretary, Kennedy has requested that government scientists undertake similar studies, according to reporting by the New York Times.
In a 2021 blog post, Kennedy wrote that he traveled to Samoa to discuss introducing a medical informatics system. He suggested it was Samoan officials who "were curious to measure health outcomes following the 'natural experiment' created by the national respite from vaccines."
The HHS Department did not respond to requests for comment. Children's Health Defense also declined to comment on the newly released correspondence.
Author James Rodriguez: "The emails don't lie, even if the testimony does. Kennedy had a specific vaccine-related agenda in Samoa, and the Senate should have had these documents before confirming him."
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