Exclusive: Test Iowa vendor gave officials talking points for PR video

Governor Kim Reynolds and other officials with important roles in Iowa’s COVID-19 response received talking points from Domo, Inc. before filming a promotional video for the company on state property last July.

The Utah-based firm, part of a group that received a $26 million no-bid contract to create the Test Iowa program, provided each interview subject with questions and “key statements” in advance, documents Bleeding Heartland received through a public records request show. State Medical Director Dr. Caitlin Pedati, the governor’s chief operating officer Paul Trombino, and others voiced some of those messages on camera.

Despite official claims that “no state resources were used” for the video, email records indicate two of the governor’s staffers spent time on preparations such as securing permissions to use different areas of the state capitol building. In addition, Trombino asked Dr. Michael Pentella, director of the State Hygienic Laboratory, to participate in the Test Iowa video.

A VIDEO WITHOUT PRECEDENT IN IOWA

Domo, which markets a “COVID-19 Crisis Command Center” to states, took down a web page with testimonials from Iowa officials a few hours after Ryan Foley reported on the video for the Associated Press last month. You can see how the page looked https://www.domo.com/customers/state-of-iowa" target="_blank">thanks to the Wayback Machine, and many of the quotes appear in a “customer story” document still available through Domo’s website. I had saved a copy of the video and posted it on YouTube.