New Evidence Reveals Vaccine-Related Purpose of RFK Jr’s 2019 Samoa Trip
Newly obtained records indicate that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was engaged in a vaccine-related "mission" during his 2019 visit to Samoa, prior to a devastating measles outbreak. This information raises questions about whether Kennedy misled the US Senate when he stated the trip had "nothing to do with vaccines."
Emails acquired by reveal that Kennedy’s then-colleague, Dr. Michael Graven, communicated with Samoan officials that they were on a mission to analyze the island nation’s medical records following 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.
At the time, Kennedy was chairman and chief legal counsel of Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit organization known for its anti-vaccine stance. Graven served as the group’s chief information officer. Representatives for Kennedy at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) did not respond to requests for comment.
Kennedy’s 2019 trip to Samoa has been heavily scrutinized, especially prior to his appointment as health secretary under Donald Trump. Kennedy has consistently asserted that his visit was unrelated to vaccines and did not influence vaccination decisions. During his Senate confirmation hearing in 2022, he stated:
"You cannot find a single Samoan who will say I didn’t get a vaccine because of Bobby Kennedy." He added that he attended a Samoan independence celebration and introduced a "state-of-the-art" medical informatics system.
The trip occurred months before a measles outbreak devastated Samoa, infecting thousands and causing over 80 deaths, predominantly among children under five years old.
Earlier in 2023, and Associated Press published reports based on documents from US government and UNICEF officials that contradicted Kennedy’s assertions about the purpose of his visit. These revelations led two Democratic senators and a House member to declare that the reporting demonstrated Kennedy had misled Congress.
The US Department of State has been releasing emails, many heavily redacted, in batches since January following an open records lawsuit supported by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
Background on Samoa’s Vaccination Pause and Children’s Health Defense Involvement
Anti-vaccine activists in the US took an interest in Samoa after a tragic incident where two infants died following administration of a contaminated measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine. This led the Samoan government to halt all vaccinations for 10 months until April 2019, causing vaccination rates to plummet. During this period, Children’s Health Defense began outreach efforts to the Samoan government, as evidenced by emails obtained by .
Despite overwhelming evidence supporting vaccine safety and their role in preventing disease, Kennedy has advocated for studies comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated children’s health outcomes. Samoa’s vaccination pause presented an opportunity for such research.
By the time Kennedy arrived on May 30, 2019, vaccinations had resumed but coverage remained low.
Details from Emails Reveal Mission’s Scope and Activities
Emails released by the State Department show Dr. Graven corresponded with Samoan officials prior to traveling with Kennedy and Kennedy’s wife, Cheryl Hines, an actor known for "Curb Your Enthusiasm."
In an email dated March 8, 2019, Graven described his role:
"I would be with Mr. Kennedy as the Health Informatician who will be performing the statistical investigations."
On May 13, 2019, Graven sent a more detailed message after discussions with Kennedy, repeatedly referring to the trip as a "mission":
"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. "Mr. Kennedy asked me to join this mission as I have performed health informatics initiatives in 48 other countries over 40 years."
Graven, a pediatrician who passed away in 2022, explained plans to collect data and conduct statistical analysis across all medical facilities in Samoa.
He emphasized the mission would be conducted "without bias," noting his experience witnessing the effects of vaccine-preventable diseases and working in countries that had encountered "bad vaccine lots." This description contrasts with Kennedy’s Senate testimony, where he denied any vaccine-related purpose.
During his confirmation hearing, Kennedy said in Oregon:
"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 in Massachusetts, he reiterated:
"My purpose in going down there had nothing to do with vaccines."
Upon further questioning, Kennedy again denied vaccine involvement, adding:
"My purpose in the trip was not to. I ended up having conversations with people, some of whom I never intended to meet."
Kennedy also stated that Children’s Health Defense had a $6 million grant to digitalize Samoa’s health records and implement a "state-of-the-art medical informatic system," which he described as the trip’s primary objective.
However, emails from March and May show Graven intended to spend weeks visiting sites and analyzing data. Yet, an email from Antone Greubel, a State Department employee in Samoa, dated June 4, indicated that Graven and Kennedy departed shortly after arrival:
"Based on conversations with my contacts RFK and Dr [Graven] fell far short of their goal to influence Samoan government vaccination policy," Greubel wrote.
Implications and Reactions
The emails provide the most comprehensive insight to date into Kennedy’s Samoa trip and suggest it was linked to his long-standing interest in studies comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated populations. Children’s Health Defense did not respond to requests for comment.
Kennedy’s 2023 book, Vax-UnVax: Let the Science Speak, advocates for more research comparing fully vaccinated children to unvaccinated children. The New York Times reported that as health secretary, Kennedy has requested government scientists to conduct such studies, which he believes will demonstrate vaccine harm. In 2022, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) paused a study in Guinea-Bissau that would have compared children vaccinated against hepatitis B to unvaccinated children, following criticism from the World Health Organization and others.
Senator Ron Wyden responded to ’s inquiries, stating:
"The new findings offer more proof that Robert Kennedy is a liar on a mission to take vaccines away from kids who need them."
"Republicans have turned a blind eye to Kennedy’s anti-vaccine crusade and abdicated their responsibility to hold those who lie to Congress accountable. Democrats will not hesitate to use every available tool to thwart the Trump administration’s healthcare agenda that is making America sicker and poorer."
In a 2021 blog post, Kennedy claimed he traveled to Samoa to discuss "the introduction of a medical informatics system" to monitor drug safety. He suggested Samoan officials were interested in measuring health outcomes following the "natural experiment" caused by the vaccination pause.
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