Sen. Wyden Demands Criminal Probe into RFK Jr. Over False Senate Testimony

Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, has urged a criminal investigation into Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. following evidence suggesting Kennedy misled senators during his confirmation hearing about his anti-vaccine advocacy.

Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, stated, "RFK’s platform is built on lies and grifts that leave a trail of dead children in their wake. There are consequences for lying to Congress." He acknowledged the unlikelihood of the Trump administration pursuing charges against one of its own officials but said he is pressuring Republicans to refer Kennedy to the Department of Justice for an investigation.

"If and when Democrats retake the Senate majority, RFK will be at the top of the list of Trump officials the finance committee will hold accountable for endangering American families," Wyden added. He had previously questioned Kennedy during last year’s confirmation hearings about a 2019 trip to Samoa.

Kennedy testified that his visit to Samoa in June 2019 was unrelated to vaccines, claiming he went to introduce a medical informatics system to digitize health records. However, records indicate the trip was actually organized to promote opposition to the MMR vaccine. Following his visit, Samoa experienced a measles outbreak that resulted in 83 deaths, most of them children.

Recent emails from a U.S. embassy official in Samoa confirmed that the true purpose of Kennedy’s trip was to raise "health concerns associated with vaccinating," contradicting his Senate testimony.

Newly uncovered documents further expose Kennedy’s misrepresentation of the trip. In a January 20, 2019, letter to Samoa’s prime minister on the letterhead of his anti-vaccine group, Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy referenced debunked claims that the MMR vaccine causes adverse health effects. He falsely attributed two deaths in Samoa to the vaccine, when authorities later determined they were caused by a nurse mistakenly mixing the vaccine with an expired muscle relaxant.

Kennedy wrote, "I would propose my team conduct detailed health informatics assessment in Samoa of what happened with your MMR vaccines." Samoa’s then-prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, responded by inviting Kennedy to conduct an "independent health assessment of our MMR Vaccines."

Samoan health officials have stated that Kennedy’s visit fueled the country’s anti-vaccine movement, lending credibility to activists who opposed immunization efforts.

The revelations, along with Kennedy’s dismissal this week of two recent measles-related deaths in the United States, have intensified calls for his removal from office.

Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts and chair of the Senate Health Subcommittee, stated, "This is a pattern, not a slip. RFK Jr. has lied to the Senate, lied to the American people, and jeopardized the health of children to advance his anti-vaccine agenda. He should never have been confirmed, and he cannot be trusted to run HHS for even one more day."