Thread by @NC5PhilWilliams

Why have I not reported that @JohnCooper4Nash and his team "covered up" the low number of #COVID19 cases in Nashville bars and restaurants? Because the story is false! Here is video evidence from July 2nd: 1/

Excellent follow-up question at this news conference by WPLN's @flakebarmer. Wonder if @TuckerCarlson will air this? Perhaps @jaketapper or @ChrisCuomo? 2/

Here are my previous tweets on this fiasco. 3/

https://twitter.com/NC5PhilWilliams/status/1306620431504416770?s=20

And here is an excellent fact check from respected @Tennessean health care reporter @BrettKelman 4/ tennessean.com/story/news/202…

Here's the point: you can disagree with whether 30 cases were enough to close bars... or 80... or whatever number you choose. A cover-up it's not. 5/

Also, if you are going to accuse public officials of engaging in a cover-up, you should tell them that upfront and give them a chance to respond to that particular allegation -- instead of just sending them a few emails and essentially asking "what do you think?" 6/

Finally, it's a sad commentary on America in 2020 that those of us who refuse to report a lie are slammed as "liberal hacks" because some people so badly want it to be true. 7/7

For those tweeting at me that, yeah that story may be false, but what about.... Move the goal posts yourself. #NotEngaging #HappyFriday

cc: @DavidAFrench

For those who missed the point, the emails do NOT say what the one story claimed. The reference to “not for public consumption” was NOT about bar numbers. And the reference to not reporting low numbers PER SITE referred to a HIPAA standard.

And here is the email from the mayor’s senior adviser about the need to release data “as much as possible.” #HaveAGreatWeekend