OPINION:
House Republicans have kicked off an investigation into American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten to see if she used union dues to pay for the writing and promoting of her book, “Why Fascists Fear Teachers: Public Education and the Future of Democracy.”
It’s expected that Weingarten’s primary defense will be to call out Republicans as fascists.
Democrats always accuse of that which they are themselves guilty, after all.
Here’s the backstory: The New York Post reported in May on a Freedom Foundation study that found Weingarten’s team tapped into $1.4 million-plus of union funds that then went toward the firm of an attorney who worked for free on the book — so that would mean the word “free” in air quotes — as well as toward a supposed ghost writer who was paid more than $400,000. Weingarten already earns nearly half a million dollars a year from her post at AFT. But why use personal funds when others’ pockets are oh-so-easily available, right? Democrats do love a good opportunity to exploit. Whether Weingarten did or not is the question on the table.
Weingarten previously said portions of the proceeds from her book would go to the AFT Disaster Relief Fund, to the AFT Educational Foundation and to the general AFT pool. But AFT’s disclosure reports showed a couple of payments listed as “royalty” funds in the total of $125,000 sent to “Teachers Want What Kids Need, LLC,” an entity controlled by Weingarten, Newsmax reported. The Freedom Foundation called this LLC “an opaque corporate entity incorporated in Delaware.”
Now Republicans serving on the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and on the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions say Weingarten has some ‘splainin’ to do. In a letter to Weingarten, Republican Reps. Tim Walberg of Michigan and Rick Allen of Georgia, chairs of the committee and subcommittee, respectively, requested more information on her use of AFT funds for “consultants, legal services, publication-related expenses, fact-checking services, photography and other activities connected” with the writing and marketing of her book. They’re not saying she broke laws. But they are questioning the level of her fiscal transparency.
“The prospect that rank-and-file educators’ dues may have financed a project that generated private financial gain raises serious questions about transparency, accountability, and fiduciary responsibility within one of the nation’s largest labor organizations,” they wrote.
“These allegations, if accurate, raise significant questions regarding transparency, fiduciary obligations to union members and the use of member dues,” they also wrote.
“The available information warrants further review to determine the extent to which union resources were devoted to a project from which you may have personally benefited financially,” they further wrote.
Weingarten was given a deadline of July 21 to turn over AFT records to congressional members to review. Republicans are requesting specifically those AFT records related to the drafting, editing, publishing, promoting and touring of the book.
This should be an easy ask for Weingarten to fulfill. After all, either she used union dollars to write and sell her book — or she didn’t. But the answer likely lies in the stonewalling.
If Weingarten refuses to cooperate and instead goes on a tear to attack Republicans, condemn conservatives as targeting her for takedown, and use the media to call out the GOP as fascist — as she did of President Trump in her book — then her guilt would seem obvious. A good rule of thumb is that liars generally distract and attack when confronted with matters of truth.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “God-Given Or Bust: Defeating Marxism and Saving America With Biblical Truths,” is available by clicking HERE.
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