Letters from an American
· collected 2026-08-28 · by Heather Cox Richardson
commentary
This morning, a headline in the Guardian read: “RFK Jr lied in Senate confirmation hearings, newly revealed documents indicate.”
asserted
documents → read → hearings
The story by Michelle R. Smith reports that letters, newly obtained by members of the press, contradict Kennedy’s repeated assertions to members of Congress in early 2025 during his confirmation process to head the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that his 2019 visit to Samoa had “nothing to do with vaccines.”
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visit → report → vaccines
In fact, in a letter to the Samoan prime minister before the trip, Kennedy said explicitly that he wanted to investigate the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine used there.
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he → say → vaccine
Observers claim that Kennedy’s visit empowered anti-vaccine activists in Samoa.
uncertain
visit → claim → Samoa
After he left, a measles epidemic killed 83 people.
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epidemic → leave → people
Smith notes that knowingly lying to Congress is a crime, although it is rarely prosecuted.
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it → note → Congress
Still, Smith points out, the apparent proof that Kennedy lied to Congress is a clear opening for hearings into Kennedy’s testimony, history, and conduct in office—including changing the vaccine schedule after promising not to—that would illuminate what has been happening to the U.S. government, information that would likely prove embarrassing to the Trump administration.
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that → point → administration
The U.S. is now in the midst of its own measles outbreak, which has killed two unvaccinated people in Pennsylvania.
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which → kill → Pennsylvania
Yesterday, Kennedy suggested that Democratic governor Josh Shapiro’s announcement of the deaths might “have been altogether fabricated by one of the Governor’s hopeful staffers.”
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announcement → suggest → staffers
Smith reports that a spokesperson for HHS said: “Secretary Kennedy’s visit to Samoa in 2019 was unrelated to vaccines.
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visit → report → vaccines
Any claim or insinuation based on these letters that Secretary Kennedy lied under oath or to Congress is not only false but outright defamatory.”
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Kennedy → base → Congress
This afternoon, Aram Roston of the Guardian reported that Trump’s war on Iran has “driven the US military into a severe financial crisis.”
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war → report → crisis
Roston reports that the U.S. Navy, which is bearing the brunt of the operation, is transferring money from payroll to combat operations, creating shortfalls.
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which → report → shortfalls
Officials are covering that shortfall by raiding other accounts.
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Officials → cover → accounts
This issue has already come up in a July hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee, when Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the top-ranking Democrat on the committee, noted that Defense Secretary Hegseth was using a funding mechanism that “does not make a lot of sense.”
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that → come → sense
Hegseth responded by blaming the “gross negligence” of the Biden administration and its “woke” policies.
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Hegseth → respond → administration
The ways in which he has spent the department’s budget were not closely examined.
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he → spend → budget
Defense analyst Todd Harrison of the conservative American Enterprise Institute told Roston that the shortages are no secret, but speculated that “that is a deliberate decision of the civilian leaders in the Pentagon, starting at secretary, that this is for political reasons, that they don’t want to look like they’re damaging future military readiness over a war that is becoming increasingly a political liability.”
A former military officer who now works for a company that contracts with the navy told Roston: “They’re f*cked.
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They → tell → Roston
They shot all their weapons; they trashed all their ships; they ran out of their money.”
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they → shoot → money
A spokesperson for the U.S. Navy denied that funds for maintenance and operations have been run down.
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funds → deny → maintenance
“The Department of the Navy,” the statement said, “is actively managing its resources to meet current pay obligations on time.
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statement → say → time
We continue to work closely with Congress to address ongoing operational demands and sustain our personnel and readiness throughout the fiscal year.”
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We → continue → year
In the Washington Post, Evan Halper reported that the administration’s latest move to cancel an offshore wind project and nurture the fossil fuel industry will funnel a fortune to Australian billionaire Michael Dorrell, who donated about a million dollars to Trump’s inaugural committee.
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who → report → committee
The way it works is this: the German company RWE will get $1.2 billion from the U.S. government to give up its wind leases for projects off of New York, California, and Louisiana if it invests instead in “conventional energy” projects.
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it → work → projects
RWE will spend $900 million of that $1.2 billion for a stake in a giant liquefied natural gas project in Louisiana.
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RWE → spend → Louisiana
Halper reports that that stake is currently owned by a private equity fund run by Dorrell, meaning that the $900 million RWE invests in the “conventional energy” project after abandoning its wind projects will go to Dorrell’s private equity fund.
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RWE → report → fund
Administration officials told Halper they had nothing to do with RWE’s decision.
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they → tell → decision
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers said: “This story is a brazen attempt to insinuate a conflict-of-interest that does not exist.”
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that → say → interest
Representative Jared Huffman (D-CA), the top-ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, had already called for investigations of the more than $4 billion the administration has spent buying the abandonment of offshore wind development.
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administration → rank → development
After the new story dropped, he told Halper “These fake ‘settlements’ were already an insane waste of taxpayer funds and a ridiculous charade that seems to be blatantly illegal.
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that → drop → funds
This now adds the stench of corruption.”
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This → add → corruption
Huffman said of the buyouts of offshore wind projects: “The deals are deeply corrupt and illegal.
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deals → say → projects
When the accountability comes, and I promise you accountability is coming, everyone involved in them will answer for it.”
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everyone → come → it
Last week, Kenneth P. Vogel and Hamed Aleaziz of the New York Times reported that three days after Trump administration officials awarded a 5-year federal contract worth $85 million a year to the private prison company GEO Group to house people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a subsidiary of GEO Group donated $1 million to MAGA Inc., a political super PAC run by Trump’s allies.
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subsidiary → report → allies
Two days after announcing another ICE contract worth $80 million annually, the company donated another $413,000.
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company → announce → 413,000
White House spokesperson Lauren Bis said in a statement: “Any allegation that political donations play a role in agencies awarding government contracts are [sic] false.
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donations → say → contracts
It is not shocking that ICE is announcing more contracts to detain illegal aliens as President Trump carries out the largest deportation operation in American history.
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Trump → announce → history
In a major story for Public Citizen, Zach Everson examined the Trump family’s cryptocurrency products, reporting that Trump appears to have made at least $1.4 billion off crypto in 2025, although he put none of his own money into the ventures.
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he → examine → ventures
The money, Everson says, comes from foreign governments, pardon seekers, corporate interests, and targets of government investigations.
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Everson → say → investigations
It also comes from retirement accounts and MAGA supporters who believe Trump when he tells them his coins are a good investment.
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coins → come → them
…and 36 more, not listed.
