“Our intention was certainly to get the public’s attention about the likelihood … that it was going to spread and that we thought that there was a high risk that it would be disruptive,” Messonnier told the panel in an Oct. 8 interview. But her public warning led to private reprimands, including from then-Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, she said.

“I specifically remember being upset after the call” with Azar, Messonnier told congressional investigators…

Schuchat joined Trump and other officials for a briefing the very next day, where Trump insisted that the pandemic’s spread to the United States was not “inevitable,” even as Schuchat tried to warn Americans to prepare for “more cases.”

“Mixed messaging was a major problem,” Schuchat said in an interview with The Washington Post, characterizing that briefing as a low moment. “I think that the government lost credibility.”