OPINION: MAYOR COOPER PROVIDED MISINFORMAITON IN HIS JULY 2 PRESS CONFERENCE

PLEASE NOTE: The following are my opinions and conclusions as the attorney for the parties who have
filed a civil action against Cooper and, thus, I am a hired advocate against Cooper. Readers should
review the information herein and pursue and consider other public information to reach their own
conclusions.

Mayor Cooper is now claiming that he did not fail to disclose information related to the number
of cases arising from bars because in his July 2nd, 2020 press conference, Dr. Alex Jahangir, the Chairman
of the Board of Health, in response to a question, stated that there were 10 cluster related to bars. I
have concluded that such a position is an apparent attempt to distract from the fact that Cooper
provided misinformation during this press conference which was intended to mislead the public that a
record number of cases had been linked to bars and, therefore, the closure of bars was necessary. The
fact that after Mayor Cooper delivered this prepared and calculated narrative a reporter asked Jahangir,
who is not part of the mayor’s office, about the details of the “record number of clusters” and Jangir
answered the question, albeit incorrectly, does not detract from the fact Cooper and his senior advisor
intentionally crafted a misleading statement to justify publicly the closure of bars. Therefore, I have
reached the conclusion that it is entirely disingenuous for Cooper to complain his acts have been
mischaracterized as a “cover-up”, when, in fact, a reasonable analysis of the facts indicates he is guilty of
much worse.

June 25, 2020 Press Conference

The analysis of whether the Mayor intentionally deceived the public has to begin with the
Mayor's press conference on June 25th 2020, just one week before the July 2nd press conference. During
the press conference, Cooper made it very clear, up until that point in time, not one case had been
linked to a restaurant or bar. Indeed, Cooper’s comments were supported by his associate medical
director and both Cooper and the associate medical director stated emphatically that the real issues
were at construction sites, food processing plans, and hospitals. Therefore, it is an undisputed fact that
as of June 25th 2020, Cooper and the Metro Health Department believed that through Phase Two and
Phase Three, which were 39 days or nearly six weeks, bars and restaurants had operated safely and did
not contributed to the spread of COVID-19. Below are the quotes from the Cooper and the link to the
full press conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01GSNGKieu0 :

I would like to take a moment to thank responsible business owners who have taken steps to
protect Nashvillians and our visitors throughout our re-opening. The majority of businesses
owners are doing the right thing, There are 4,088 permitted restaurant and bars in Davidson
County, 90% have operated without receiving a single public health complaint from the public . .
.. With the overwhelming cooperation of business owners in the hospitality industry and their
safe business practices, there has not been a single documented case of patron to patron, or
patron to employee or employee to patron spread of the coronavirus, according to our health
department epidemiologist. This is an encouraging fact for our reopening progress . . .Again,
our contract tracing investigations has shown the virus is not spreading as a result of
Nashvillians patronaging responsible business or running daily errands.
....
Our contact tracing has found that the virus is spreading through household and carpools when
shared with infected family members, roommates and coworkers. Health care workers and

1
 essential employees on construction sites and food processing plants without proper health
measures in place remain at the highest risk of catching and spreading the disease based on
public health investigations. There have been sporadic cases among retail workers, commercial
business workers and restaurant employees that have quickly been contained through proper
employee screening procedures. . . ..

Additionally, Dr. Gill Wright, the Associate Medical Director, who handles the contact tracing team
(a/k/a disease investigations) provided data to support Cooper’s comments. He stated that 80% of cases
came from members of the same household and he reiterated that the top three industries at risk are
healthcare, construction, and food processing. Thus, according to Metro, restaurants AND bars were
not an issue whatsoever in the spread of COVID-19 in Phase One and Phase Two.

Cooper is Sued by Broadway bars

One day after the aforementioned press conference, which was Friday, June 26th, 2020,
attorneys for Steve Smith filed a motion in a federal lawsuit against Metro to add Steve Smith, Kid
Rock’s, and Honky Tonk Central to the lawsuit, in which they were alleging that Mayor Cooper and
Director Michael Caldwell specifically targeted them for violations and otherwise, Metro had violated
their constitutional rights. It is important to note that Steve Smith has been very vocal about his
opposition to the Cooper’s actions related to Broadway period from the inception of Metro’s response
to COVID-19, both publicly and privately. Therefore, it can be safely concluded that significant animosity
existed between Smith and Cooper at the time the aforementioned motion was filed against Metro.

The Surge
During the latter part of the week in which the foregoing events occurred, according to emails
which have been provided by Metro, the Health Department began to see a sharp increase in cases and,
apparently for the first time, saw cases arising from bars. See the chart below. Thus, here is no question
that according to the Health Department’s data, the week of June 22 through 26 brought a record of
number of cases in Nashville. However, notwithstanding the increase in cases, Cooper, instead of
responding to the scientific data, chose to mislead the public to believe that the rise in cases was
primarily from a record number of clusters at bars.

2
COOPER’S OFFICE CREATES MISLEADING NARRATIVE
On June 29th, 2020, the Monday after Steve Smith essentially sued Metro, Ben Eagles,
presumably having learned about the “surge” of cases referenced above, sent an email to the Leslie
Waller, the epidemiologist for Metro Health Department, asking, “Is there data you can share with me
about the number of cases that originate from various sources? For instance, how many cases have
spread at bars? How many from gatherings? Weddings?” After some dialogue, Waller asks, “This isn’t
going to be publicly released, right? Just info for the Mayor’s Office?” Eagles responds, “Correct, not for
public consumption.” The next day, not having been provided the requested information yet, Eagles
emailed Waller again. “We really need the data resulting from contact tracing by 2pm today. How many
cases are coming from bars? How many from gatherings, etc.?” At about 2:30 p.m. on the afternoon of
June 30, Waller provided the current contact tracing information. Below is the “cluster info” she
provided. (A cluster is defined as 2 or more cases.)(The full emails are public and should be reviewed for
more information).

3
Not only did Waller provide the above information she also provided the below chart, which presumably
shows the “cluster” of cases since March.

If one presumes Eagles and Cooper were seeking justification to shutter bars in retaliation
against Smith et al and they could not find such justification with only 19 cases, it could be concluded
that Eagles reviewed the above chart and decided to manipulate the data. As you can see, the tallest
bar (pink) is “bars” and, thus, on July 1, 2020, he emailed Waller the following question (the light font is
Waller’s response she injected into Eagle’s email in response).

4
I would argue Eagles statement, which was approved by the Waller, is clearly misleading for multiple
reasons. First, a cluster is two or more cases. Thus, the fact there is a “record number of clusters” is
incomplete, and in this case irrelevant, unless you know the number from each cluster. One conclusion a
reasonable person could reach is that Eagles realized that he could hide the low number of cases by
using the term “cluster”, instead of “cases”.

Second, the statement does not spell out in what regard the number of cases are a “record”
Meaning, had Eagles statement stated, “There was a record number of cases in bars in one day.”, while
this statement would still be misleading for the reasons stated herein, at least it would give it some
context. But if you add in this qualifying clause, it loses to a degree the impression Cooper was seeking:
there was a record number of outbreaks at bars.

Finally, Metro was asserting that there were 3,200 new cases in the preceding week (see chart
above). Therefore, the cases related to bars were both scientifically and statistically irrelevant as such
only accounted for .6% of the new cases (or six tenths of a percent). Certainly then, to represent that
.6% of the new cases were related to bars as a “record number” by using the ambiguous term “cluster”
is clearly misleading. Nonetheless, the very next day, July 2nd, the Mayor, in attempting to justify closing
bars, used such statement in his press conference.

JULY 2ND, 2020 PRESS CONFERENCE

The first part of the Mayor’s comments at the July 2nd, 2020, which notably he was reading from
a prepared statement on a teleprompter was as follows:

. . . Phase Three has not been effective and we are going to go back to what we know is
effective in slowing the spread of the disease. Beginning Friday, July 3rd, and for the next several
weeks at least, Nashville will revert to a phase 2 with modification for the roadmap for opening
Nashville. The modified plan is tailored from what we have learned from contact tracing
investigations over the past several weeks. It is response to sharp recent case increases and
clustering of cases. Now four of our six health metrics for reopening Nashville are green. Our
transmission rate is yellow with 1.03 to 1.06. But our 14-day rolling average is red. Today’s news
case count is 608. A record daily high. This means we have to respond as a community to get
back on track.

5
(For the full press conference, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loS6bJsbJlI ). Cooper’s statement
clearly establishes an alarming increase in cases and a return to Phase 2 is required. However, he
emphasizes that the “modified plan is tailored” from what was discovered from contact tracing and that
there had been a “sharp” increase in “cluster of cases”. The Mayor than begins to address what
modifications will be made given what was discovered. He first says that event venues and
entertainment venues would be closed, but notably does not mention bars. He then states restaurants
will return back to 50%; again, he does not mention bars. He then states:

Now metro park facilities in phase three will remain open . . . as out breaks have not been
traced back to venues and activities . . .. Additionally, all bars know as limited service restaurants
[also known as bars] . . . will close for a minimum of 14 days beginning tomorrow . . .. Our
public health investigation have found a record number of clusters originating from bars within
the past week which has affected employees, patrons and musicians. Multiple bars in the mid-
town and downtown neighborhood have recently closed because of outbreaks amongst their
staff and patrons.

The narrative then put forth by the Mayor is that park facilities were not being closed because there are
no cases traced back to such venues. However, bars must be closed because of the record number of
cases originated from bars “within the past week”. I am of the opinion that this last clause renders the
Mayor’s statement blatantly misleading because the “record number” of clusters was for one day, not
for a week. Nonetheless, when you take the Mayor’s statement in context, he was delivering the
message to the public that contact tracer had discovered a record number of cases linked to bars and,
therefore, they must be closed. When compared to the actual facts, this narrative is not supported. As
indicated above, 3,200 new cases were reported in the last week, and, thus, portraying 19 cases as a
record number or even in an amount that justified closing the bars can be construed as an intentional
misrepresentation of the data.

COOPER DID NOT REVEAL THE ACTUAL NUMBERS

Cooper is now claiming that the actual number were revealed during the press conference and,
therefore, the Mayor was not “hiding the numbers”. The Mayor’s comments were a written statement,
which means they were deliberate and calculated. NONE OF THE MAYORS COMMENTS REVEALED THE
ACTUAL NUMBERS!!! Recall the agreement between Eagles and Waller; the numbers were not for public
consumption and Eagles, and Cooper, kept such agreement. Therefore, this suggests Cooper never
intended to reveal the actual numbers to the public during his press conference, because if he did, he
would have done so. Notably, Jahangir’s prepared comments likewise did not reveal the actual
numbers linked to bars. However, when Jahangir was asked specifically about the “record clusters”,
Jahangir actually misstated the numbers as well. He stated:

(30:53) . . . What we are seeing are there are about there are at least ten locations around the
city that have had at least a total of 30 people confirm that have tested positive that are
Davidson County residence, there may be others who are at these locations who live outside
Davidson County that may have been infected that is why this is atypical . . .

It is unclear whether the numbers were updated or why Jahangir’s numbers differed from the 5 clusters
and 19 cases, but it is important to note that he used the term “at least”, thereby implying there were
more. Further investigation will have to be conducted to determine why Jahangir made these
statements, but, nonetheless, Jahangir’s misstatements to a reporter cannot undo what I perceive as the

6
clear intent by Cooper to mislead the public to believe the “record” numbers of case arising from bars
justified closing the bars.

A fact which suggests Cooper and Eagles never intended to disclose the actual numbers is that
when reporters followed up with written requests for the information regarding the clusters, Metro
continued to mischaraterize the numbers and never released the details of the clusters. On the
afternoon of July 2, Jeremy Finely of Channel 4 News sent an email to Todd Brian and Chris Song seeking
more information on the “10 or so establishments that had 30 or more cases”. Brian Todd responded
and continued the false narrative:

> On Jul 2, 2020, at 10:57 AM, Todd, Brian (Health) <Brjan.Todd@nashviJle.gov> wrote:
>
> Hey Jeremy,
> The Health Department has seen a high number of clusters from bars, affecting both staff and
patrons. At least one of these cluster locations closed following an outbreak. We are not going
to name specific clusters, but this was multiple locations and the most clusters we have seen in
a single day. (115)

Finely continued to push for the information and in fact stated he was making “an official open records
request for this data”. Nonetheless, the discussion between Metro officials captured in emails, including
Leslie Waller, demonstrate they refused to provide the details of the “cluster”, their reason being Metro
did not want to discourage cooperation from establishments. Thus, Finely was not provided the
information at that time and apparently Channel 4 News still has not been provided the information.
Nancy Ammons, who is also with Channel 4 news, in a question to Cooper during the September 19,
2020 press conference, revealed that in response to their records requests for the “10 clusters”, Metro
responded by asserting no such records existed. Therefore, it appears, to date, Metro has not provided
the information about the specifics of the “10 clusters” to Finley.

Another fact which suggest the Mayor intended to mislead the public is that in response to a
Motion filed in the federal lawsuit to lift Metro’s Order closing bars, Metro officials did not reveal the
actual numbers either. Both Director Michael Caldwell and Waller filed affidavits on July 7th, 2020, and
neither revealed the actual numbers. However, Waller’s statements not only did not reveal the actual
numbers, she provided misleading information similar to Cooper’s:

Investigations into these new cases also revealed multiple clusters of positive cases
among bar patrons in downtown Nashville. These clusters of COVID-19 infections were
connected to patrons, musicians, and employees of bars and restaurants in Davidson
County that provide live music.
....
Many of those who tested positive during this "surge" of new cases have a common
exposure at one of a number of bars in downtown Nashville.

Waller statements regarding the “surge” is clearly designed to give the impression that “many” of the
new cases arose from bars. There is not reasonable interpretation of the term “many” in this context
when describing 19 case our of 3,200. It should be noted that Wallers’ statement was filed on July 7,
thus, she may have had additional information regarding more than 19 cases, but it could not be a
number to justify this term or it seems she would have disclosed the actual amount.

7
 Given the above the sequence of events, the intentional and calculated words and phrases used
by Cooper and his office, in my opinion the actual data known to Metro supports a conclusion that
Cooper did not intend to disclose the actual number of cases to the public, but instead intended to
mislead the public to believe “a record number” of cases had arisen from bars and, thus, he had a duty
to close bars.

POST HOC RATIONALIZATION

Since the public release of the emails, Cooper has asserted that the number of cases was not
relevant to his decision because: 1) The White House had directed the closure of bars and, thus, Cooper
was following such directive; and 2) Cooper was acting preemptively to prevent a large outbreak in
cases. I have concluded that neither of these positions are supported by the information currently
available.

In the September 19 press conference, Cooper asserted that the closure of bars was, in part, in
response to information provided by the White House and Dr. Deborah Brix of the White House
Coronavirus Task Force. Cooper closed bars on July 2nd, 2020. The White House directive and that of Dr.
Brix’s were made weeks after Cooper’s decision to close bars. As seen below, in a July 22 article, the
Tennessean reports the White House was recommending aggressive action. Despite Cooper’s recent
statement that he relied on the White House statements, Chris Song, his press secretary, states clearly
in the below article that not only did they not need such advice, Metro was not even on the call when
the advice was given. Here is the link for the entire article with a portion below.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2020/07/22/white-house-says-nashville-needs-
aggressive-covid-19-response/5490883002/

Nashville was among 11 cities the White House singled out on a private call Wednesday,
warning local officials to increase testing and take "aggressive" actions to curb the spread of
COVID-19.
The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit newsroom based in Washington, D.C., reported Dr.
Deborah Birx, a leader of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, told state and local officials
on a call that they should take quick action.
....
Chris Song, a spokesperson for Mayor John Cooper, said while the administration has joined
many White House calls, officials missed today's, citing other "more pressing" tasks that directly
relate to the city's COVID-19 response.
"The White House’s statement says nothing new and is based on old information that we have
highlighted dozens of times over the past months," Song told The Tennessean.

With regard to Cooper’s position that he was acting preemptively, such a statement is not supported by
his statements in the press conference or his own health department. If, indeed, Cooper was acting
preemptively, he could have simply stated so. Similar to his unambiguous statements in the September
19 press conference, he could have stated while the number of cases were low, his experts were stating
that such was indicative of a forthcoming serious outbreak and action was required. Instead, he did not

8
make such statements and instead provided what I have concluded is misinformation about the “record
number of clusters.”

More importantly, the information which is available suggests his own Health Department did
not recommend closure of bars for fourteen days. On June 29th, the Health Department sent a
statement to the Mayor’s office with its recommendations. The recommendations included: police
enforcement regarding masks; pursue legal action against “problem locations”; require physical barriers
between performs and the audience; require all patrons to remain seated; reduce capacities of
bars/restaurants to 50% or 150 per floor, whichever is less; close all rooftop bars all day July 4th; require
bars/restaurants to close at 10 or 11 am; airport messaging and distribution of masks at airport;
encourage curtailment of Nashville’s marketing to tourists. In these recommendations to Cooper, the
Health Department did not recommend closure of bars. Therefore, at least by June 29, 2020, the
medical professionals who advised Cooper were not recommending closure of bars. Thus, it seems the
science required he act pre-emptively by closing bars, his experts would have made such a
recommendation.

CONCLUSION

I reiterate that the foregoing are my opinions and conclusion as a hired advocate of parties who
have sued Cooper. Additional research and consideration should be given to these matters by readers
and they should reach their own conclusions.