New evidence casts doubt on RFK Jr testimony before Senate

Prime minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, right, shakes hands with Robert F Kennedy Jr in Mulinu’u, Samoa, on 1 June 2019. Photograph: Misiona Simo/AP View image in fullscreen Prime minister of Samoa, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, right, shakes hands with Robert F Kennedy Jr in Mulinu’u, Samoa, on 1 June 2019. Photograph: Misiona Simo/AP New evidence casts doubt on RFK Jr testimony before Senate Kennedy repeatedly said 2019 Samoa trip had ‘nothing to do with vaccines’. An email from his then colleague says they were on a vaccine-related ‘mission’ New evidence has emerged that Robert F Kennedy Jr was on a vaccine-related “mission” when he visited Samoa ahead of a deadly measles outbreak in 2019, raising further questions about whether the US health secretary lied to the US Senate when he said the trip had “nothing to do with vaccines”. Records obtained by the Guardian show Kennedy’s colleague told Samoan officials in an email that he and Kennedy were coming as part of a mission to study the island nation’s medical records in the aftermath of a “discontinuity in vaccinations”. “We all look forward to the opportunity to be of service to the people of Samoa with our mission,” Dr Michael Graven wrote. Kennedy was at the time serving as chairman and chief legal counsel of Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit group known for its anti-vaccine activism . Graven was the group’s chief information officer. Spokespeople for Kennedy at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not respond to messages seeking comment. Kennedy’s trip to the Pacific island nation is among the most heavily criticised activities he undertook before being named health secretary by Donald Trump. Kennedy has frequently claimed that his reason for going to Samoa was not about vaccines and that his visit did not influence people’s decisions on whether to vaccinate. At his Senate confirmation hearing last year, he said: “You cannot find a single Samoan who will say I didn’t get a vaccine because of Bobby Kennedy.” Instead, he said he went to attend a Samoan independence celebration and to introduce a “state-of-the art” medical informatics system. Samoan officials later said Kennedy’s visit bolstered the credibility of anti-vaccine activists . A measles outbreak, which tore through the Pacific island nation a few months after Kennedy’s visit, sickened thousands and killed 83 people , mostly children under age five. Earlier this year, the Guardian and Associated Press obtained emails from US government and Unicef officials that undermined Kennedy’s claims about why he visited Samoa. That prompted two Democratic senators and a member of the House to say the reporting showed Kennedy lied to the Senate . Newly revealed emails undermine RFK Jr testimony about 2019 Samoa trip ahead of measles outbreak Read more The US Department of State has been turning over the emails – many heavily redacted – in batches since January as a result of an open records lawsuit brough