While much of Tuesday’s focus is on Miami, as former President Donald Trump prepares for his arraignment in federal court, there’s a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill, as well. Tuesday morning, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic held a hearing on CDC policies and decisions during the pandemic.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky was called to testify. A full video of the hearing can be viewed below, but a key moment in her testimony was prompted by the questioning of Subcommittee Chair Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH).

.@RepBradWenstrup: “Did the AFT provide suggested edits to the CDC’s February 2021 school opening guidance, including a trigger to automatically close schools that, if implemented, would have kept more schools closed and kids out of the classroom?”@CDCDirector Walensky: “Yes.” pic.twitter.com/ngWlSn7Qt0

— Americans for Public Trust (@apublictrust) June 13, 2023

Here’s that portion of the exchange:

Wenstrup: Did the American Federation of Teachers provide suggested edits to the CDC’s February 2021 school opening guidance, including a trigger to automatically close schools that, if implemented, would have kept more schools closed and kids out of the classroom?

Walensky: The AFT was interested in having closure triggers, that is my understanding — yes.

Wenstrup: So you’re answer’s ‘Yes’?

Walensky: Yes.

Walensky was quick to add that the AFT’s suggested edits were not accepted.

Fascinating response, given AFT President Randi Weingarten’s testimony before that same committee in late April, during which she steadfastly maintained that the AFT had worked relentlessly to get the schools open.

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten appeared before a Congressional subcommittee on Wednesday to testify to the role her Union had in school closures during the COVID pandemic. In her usual overtly emotional and barraging tone, Weingarten testified that the AFT had not championed or pushed school closures, but instead worked to open them.

Weingarten said:

I’m sorry, Congressman Raskin… I’m just… we spent every day from February on trying to get schools open. We knew that remote education was not a substitute for opening schools.

That would be the same month during which, according to Walensky’s testimony, the AFT was suggesting edits that would trigger automatic school closures.

The apparent contradiction between Walensky’s testimony and Weingarten’s is even more fascinating, given Weingarten’s subsequent apparent attempt to subvert a Twitter Community Notes fact-check on her testimony, as RedState’s Brittany Sheehan detailed at the time.

In response to the criticism of her testimony, Weingarten posted a video of her making media interview appearances repeating phrases about how they wanted to open schools, but how they had to do it safely.

The caption of her video reads:

Republicans on the House Covid subcommittee want you to think I wanted to keep schools closed. Here’s what I actually said… over & over again.

Weingarten closed the comments section so that only the accounts she follows can reply. But, the Twitterverse finds a way. A Community Notes information box appeared on the tweet providing context that was rated as helpful, per the platform’s policies.

…

Weingarten unpinned her April 26 video, republishing it on April 27 and pinning the new post to the top of her profile in an apparent effort to subvert the text and sources added to her original tweet.

Not content with the drubbing she received following her testimony, Weingarten again took to Twitter in May, to plead her case, as Bob Hoge reported:

Weingarten clearly hasn’t learned her lesson and has been taking to Twitter to repeat her ridiculous claims. Community Notes took notice:

…

“We worked together 3 years ago to get our kids back to in-person schooling in a way that was safe for kids & staff,” she wrote in the above tweet on May 8. Notes (which have to be upvoted by a range of divergent users) quickly hit back, writing “Weingarten is misrepresenting her prior positions. She called attempts to reopen schools in the fall of 2020 ‘Reckless, callous, cruel’” and linked to a story backing up their claim.

Another said, “Her union pushed aggressively at the local level,” while a third piled on with “Areas with high union influence remained closed much longer.”

It wasn’t just fact-checkers on Twitter who called Weingarten out, though. Some questioned whether she might be charged with perjury for her testimony, and called on Congress to hold her accountable.

No wonder Weingarten high-tailed it to war-torn Ukraine again shortly thereafter.

No, we are not sitting down, the Mayor of Kyiv is really that tall! #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/ZUb3AfTWiM

— Randi Weingarten 🇺🇦🇺🇸💪🏿👩‍🎓 (@rweingarten) May 9, 2023

(Because, of course, that’s where the focus of the nation’s second-largest teachers’ union is most needed.)

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee is the parent of this select subcommittee. It’s that call for accountability which one suspects prompted Tuesday’s line of questioning from Wenstrup.