{
  "id": 19665665,
  "title": "Senator opens investigation into evidence RFK Jr ‘unlawfully lied’ to Congress",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/12/senator-opens-investigation-into-evidence-rfk-jr-unlawfully-lied-to",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-12T15:05:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Guardian US",
    "slug": "the-guardian-us",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/nov/12/senate-investigation-rfk-jr-measles-samoa"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Senator Ron Wyden, the incoming chair of the Senate finance committee, has launched an investigation into allegations that Robert F Kennedy Jr. unlawfully lied during his 2025 confirmation hearings as the proposed US health secretary. The investigation is prompted by a report by the Guardian and requests for extensive records from Children's Health Defense (CHD), Kennedy's anti-vaccine group. Wyden and Democratic senator Angela Alsobrooks have cited the Guardian's reporting that Kennedy lied about his reasons for visiting Samoa in 2019, a trip just months before a measles outbreak in the Pacific island nation. The senators claim Kennedy's presence in Samoa emboldened anti-vaccine activists, worsening a vaccination crisis. Although Kennedy denies the allegations, letters obtained through an open records lawsuit contradict his testimony in Senate confirmation hearings in January 2025, where he stated his trip to Samoa had \"nothing to do with vaccines.\"",
  "summary": "Exclusive: Ron Wyden, citing Guardian report, is launching inquiry into whether health secretary lied about Samoa trip during confirmation hearings A top Democratic senator has launched an investigation into evidence that Robert F Kennedy Jr “unlawfully lied” in his 2025 confirmation hearings to become the US health secretary, citing a report by the Guardian . Ron Wyden of Oregon, the incoming…",
  "key_points": [
    "Senator Ron Wyden opens investigation into RFK Jr.'s alleged lies.",
    "RFK Jr. denies allegations of lying about Samoa trip in 2019.",
    "Letters contradict RFK Jr.'s testimony in 2025 confirmation hearings."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}