In a series of emails, the group offered to fly guests out to Washington, D.C., for her hearing, asked them to conduct media interviews “supporting her nomination,” provided them with talking points and invited them to lunch with DeVos and her husband.

“I am contacting you on behalf of Secretary of Education-designate Betsy DeVos,” Jana Gregg, national summit manager for the AFC, wrote in a Jan. 3 email to Grand Rapids Public Schools Superintendent Teresa Weatherall Neal. “We are inviting you to attend the hearings as her guest.”

American Federation for Children spokesman Matt Frendeway said Friday that Gregg made a mistake when she suggested the invitation came from DeVos herself. He was adamant that DeVos no longer plays any role in AFC, and he said the group did not run the guest list past her before extending any invitations.