Senator Wyden opens investigation into evidence that Health Secretary Kennedy 'unlawfully lied' to Congress

Top Democratic Senator Ron Wyden has launched an investigation into evidence that US Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr 'unlawfully lied' in his 2025 confirmation hearings to Congress, citing a report by the Guardian.

Wyden of Oregon, the incoming chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, is seeking extensive records from Children's Health Defense (CHD), the non-profit anti-vaccine group Kennedy has used as a vehicle for his political rise, including all documents related to a 2019 trip Kennedy took to Samoa.

'We are beginning an investigation into evidence that Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy, Jr unlawfully lied to Congress on multiple occasions,' Wyden said in a letter to the group that was sent on Wednesday and obtained by the Guardian. The letter was also signed by Angela Alsobrooks, a Democratic senator from Maryland.

In the letter, the two lawmakers cited reporting by the Guardian that indicated Kennedy lied about his reasons for going to Samoa in 2019, a trip that occurred just months before a measles outbreak killed 83 people in the Pacific island nation, mostly children under age five.

Kennedy made the trip as chair and chief legal counsel of CHD, and it became one of the most criticised events of his career before he entered government. Critics, including Samoan officials, have said Kennedy's presence emboldened anti-vaccine activists in Samoa, worsening a vaccination crisis. Kennedy has denied the allegations, saying he never gave any public statement about vaccines or discouraged Samoans from getting vaccinated.

'In Samoa and in the United States, unvaccinated children have died tragic and preventable deaths during measles outbreaks. We intend to hold Secretary Kennedy accountable for the grave harm he has caused to vulnerable children. We also intend to hold him accountable for any false statements made to Congress, a crime that undermines the Senate's ability to fulfil its constitutional duties,' the two Democratic senators wrote.

In two congressional confirmation hearings in January 2025, Kennedy told lawmakers who held the key to his confirmation that his visit to Samoa had 'nothing to do with vaccines'.

But letters obtained by the Guardian and the Associated Press through an open records lawsuit brought by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press contradicted that testimony. In one letter to the Samoan prime minister in January 2019 before the trip, Kennedy explicitly said he wanted to study the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in the Pacific island nation. In it, he used the words 'vaccine' or 'vaccination' eight times.

The prime minister responded a month later, saying Samoa could benefit from CHD's assessment of MMR vaccines and inviting him to come.

Children's Health Defense did not respond to requests for comment, and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not immediately comment. HHS previously said in response to the Guardian's reporting on Kennedy's Senate testimony that his visit to Samoa was 'unrelated to vaccines' and that any claim he lied under oath or to Congress was false and defamatory. It has not provided a response to questions about why his testimony contradicted what he said in his letter to the Samoan prime minister.

The Senate letter requested all documents related to any travel to Samoa by Kennedy or other employees or associates of CHD and any communications with Samoan government officials. It also asked for records related to Kennedy's presidential campaign and his Senate confirmation process, records related to his speech to CHD's September convention, and all communications between CHD and federal government officials since 20 January 2025.

Since taking office, Kennedy has hired former CHD employees, including Lyn Redwood, a former CHD president who made early outreach on his behalf to Samoa and is now an employee at HHS, reportedly working on vaccine safety. Kennedy's closest adviser at HHS, Stefanie Spear, ran CHD's newsletter before joining his 2024 presidential campaign.

Tim Stretton, of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonpartisan watchdog group in Washington, said it was not wise to ignore such a letter and that it was in CHD's interest to cooperate in good faith. If they did not, he said, the committee or its chair could issue subpoenas to demand the information.

Knowingly giving material false testimony to Congress is a crime that carries a possible prison sentence, though it is rarely prosecuted. Wyden previously called for a criminal investigation of Kennedy's testimony about his trip to Samoa, and said in August that when Democrats retook the majority in the Senate, Kennedy would be at the top of the list of Trump officials the finance committee would hold accountable.

Several other Democrats have called for Kennedy to resign or be impeached. Bernie Sanders, incoming chair of the Senate committee on health, education, labor and pensions, said he is open to impeachment. Legal experts have said it is unlikely the justice department under Trump would prosecute, but said Kennedy's statements could be used as grounds for hearings, for an impeachment inquiry or to create other obstacles for the Trump administration.