The Biden administration&#8217;s former &#8220;disinformation czar,&#8221; ousted after an apparent attempt to create an Orwellian ministry of truth within the Department of Defense, has launched a new nonprofit that declares criticism of &#8220;disinformation researchers&#8221; such as herself as a chief threat to the United States of America.
&#8220;The campaign against counter-disinformation work is the greatest threat to freedom of expression and academic integrity since the McCarthy era,&#8221; Nina Jankowicz said in a press release, pledging that her group would not &#8220;allow it to continue.&#8221;
&#8220;Once researchers are free to conduct their essential work, the American people will gain a better understanding of the nature and severity of the disinformation threats we face,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Disinformation knows no political party. Its ultimate victim is our democracy.&#8221;
The group, the American Sunlight Project, was announced as a bipartisan advocacy organization founded by Jankowicz that was &#8220;launched to expose and oppose efforts to weaponize disinformation in the United States.&#8221;
&#8220;The organization will investigate the networks and money driving disinformation and educate the public about the threats disinformation poses to their daily lives,&#8221; it says. &#8220;The first step in the group’s program will involve countering the organized campaign currently challenging the work of disinformation researchers.&#8221;
The group&#8217;s advisory board consists of Katie Harbath, a former Facebook executive, Emily Horne, a former National Security Council official, Ineke Mushovic of the gay advocacy group Movement Advancement Project, and Ben Wittes of the left-wing Brookings Institution, who was once described as the &#8220;<a href="https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/politico50/benjamin-wittes/">bard of the deep state</a>.&#8221;
Carlos Álvarez-Aranyos, the group&#8217;s co-founder, claims that &#8220;organized campaigns are preventing us from researching and understanding the threat of disinformation and organization an appropriate national response,&#8221; promising to &#8220;break the deadlocks holding us back.&#8221;
In 2022, Jankowicz was appointed by the Department of Homeland Security to lead an ill-fated body called the Disinformation Governance Board. An uproar over civil liberties ensued, including from 20 state attorneys general, with the Biden administration ultimately <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-republicans-demand-answers-from-nina-jankowicz-on-new-disinformation-governance-board" target="_blank" rel="noopener">scrapping</a> the idea. Jankowicz says the criticism of the board was, itself, misinformation.
Jankowicz had posted bizarre videos of herself singing about &#8220;disinformation,&#8221; referring to herself as the &#8220;Mary Poppins of disinformation.&#8221;
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You can just call me the Mary Poppins of disinformation 💁🏻‍♀️ <a href="https://t.co/eGV9lpctYn">https://t.co/eGV9lpctYn</a> <a href="https://t.co/WVQFA2bPmq">pic.twitter.com/WVQFA2bPmq</a>
&mdash; Nina Jankowicz (@wiczipedia) <a href="https://twitter.com/wiczipedia/status/1362153807879303171?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2021</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Misinformation&#8221; groups often purport to rate news outlets in the name of transparency, assign failing ratings to center-right news outlets, and then refuse to share their data with journalists who want to check their methodology.
In the past, they have been subsidized by the government, and served to enforce government-sanctioned lines — such as that the coronavirus did not leak out of a Chinese lab — in the media.
Anti-&#8220;misinformation&#8221; efforts often hold only the barest pretext to being anything other than partisan enforcers, saying they aim to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/state-department-paid-germans-to-bring-censorship-and-propaganda-to-u-s-schools" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rescue</a> people from early warning signs that they believe could head down a path to extremes — which often amounts to a belief in center-right ideas — while actively advocating for left-wing falsities such as the New York Times&#8217; debunked 1619 Project.
Even as they make a living criticizing others, &#8220;misinformation researchers&#8221; have played the victim as soon as people do not react to their work the way they hoped.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/20-gop-attorneys-general-threaten-lawsuit-over-un-american-disinformation-board" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> the scrapped Disinformation Governance Board an &#8220;un-American, anti-democratic, and a dangerous escalation of the Biden Administration’s embrace of government-endorsed censorship,&#8221; and said Americans should not trust Jankowicz to act &#8220;as the Biden Administration&#8217;s arbiter of truth.&#8221;
The new &#8220;sunlight&#8221; group <a href="https://www.americansunlight.org/letter-to-congress">wrote</a> to the Committee faulting it for releasing excerpts from &#8220;misinformation experts&#8221; own testimony, saying it has made them &#8220;targets for harassment.&#8221;
The group lamented that &#8220;dozens of AI-generated images of former President Trump posing with Black voters have circulated online&#8221; and said the images &#8220;are real, present-day threats to American democracy.&#8221;

Nina Jankowicz

‘Mary Poppins Of Disinformation’ Returns With New Group To Defend Disinformation Industry

Disinformation Governance Board

Social Media Censorship

Just one day after the White House confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security&#8217;s Disinformation Governance Board had been put on hold — and that board chief Nina Jankowicz had resigned — Twitter announced plans to implement a new &#8220;crisis misinformation policy.&#8221;
The plan, according to a tweet from @TwitterSafety, would be implemented to ensure that Twitter as a platform did not amplify or contribute to the spread of <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/our-concerns-are-not-new-psaki-wont-mention-musk-by-name-warns-twitter-could-still-promote-misinformation/">misinformation</a>.
&#8220;People turn to Twitter during crisis times to share news, find support, and stay connected. Today, we’re launching a crisis misinformation policy so Twitter doesn’t recommend or amplify viral, false content that can further harm already vulnerable groups,&#8221; the tweet read.
https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1527318176119554049
&#8220;We’ve been refining our approach to crisis misinformation, drawing on input from global experts and human rights organizations. As part of this new framework, we’ll start adding warning notices on high visibility misleading Tweets related to the war in Ukraine,&#8221; the thread continued.
https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1527318183191126019
A <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/company/2022/introducing-our-crisis-misinformation-policy">lengthier explanation</a> from Yoel Roth, Twitter&#8217;s head of Safety and Integrity, introduced the measure as &#8220;a global policy that will guide our efforts to elevate credible, authoritative information, and will help to ensure viral misinformation isn’t amplified or recommended by us during crises.&#8221;
The ultimate goal, Roth said, was to prevent Twitter from becoming party to misleading information that could then &#8220;undermine public trust and cause further harm.&#8221;
Roth included a list of things that users could expect to see warning labels attached to:
<ul>
<li>False coverage or event reporting, or information that mischaracterizes conditions on the ground as a conflict evolves;</li>
<li>False allegations regarding use of force, incursions on territorial sovereignty, or around the use of weapons;</li>
<li>Demonstrably false or misleading allegations of war crimes or mass atrocities against specific populations;</li>
<li>False information regarding international community response, sanctions, defensive actions, or humanitarian operations.</li>
</ul>
&#8220;Strong commentary, efforts to debunk or fact check, and personal anecdotes or first person accounts do not fall within the <a href="https://help.twitter.com/rules-and-policies/crisis-misinformation">scope of the policy</a>,&#8221; Roth concluded.
But critics were immediately wary of the new policy.
Nationally syndicated radio host Dana Loesch <a href="https://twitter.com/DLoesch/status/1527349539715239949">commented</a>, &#8220;They’re gonna get their Ministry of Truth one way or the other folks.&#8221;
&#8220;Brought to you by the same people that told you Hunter’s laptop was &#8216;Russian disinformation,'&#8221; Michael Seifert <a href="https://twitter.com/realmichaelseif/status/1527363012687867914">added</a>.
&#8220;Twitter is doubling down on trying to censor dissent,&#8221; Kyle Lamb <a href="https://twitter.com/kylamb8/status/1527356552436338692">tweeted</a>. &#8220;They want to only amplify professional liars.&#8221;
&#8220;So, is Twitter taking the place of Biden’s Disinfo Board?&#8221; Emma Woodhouse <a href="https://twitter.com/EWoodhouse7/status/1527355334763102213">wanted to know</a>.
&#8220;LOL Good thing I wasn&#8217;t drinking anything. Could have drowned,&#8221; @stonekettle <a href="https://twitter.com/Stonekettle/status/1527364649250762776">quipped</a>.

In this photo illustration, a woman’s silhouette holds a

‘They’re Going To Get Their Ministry Of Truth One Way Or The Other’: Twitter Announces ‘Crisis Misinformation Policy’

Twitter Announces 'Crisis Misinformation Policy'

Dana Loesch

Misinformation

Twitter

New White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre argued that disinformation spread by critics of President Joe Biden&#8217;s administration were responsible for putting the Department of Homeland Security&#8217;s Disinformation Governance Board on hold.
Jean-Pierre took questions on the topic at Wednesday&#8217;s press briefing, after it was announced earlier in the day that <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/bidens-disinformation-chief-resigns-after-homeland-security-puts-board-on-hold/">the board was on hold</a> and the woman who had been tapped to head it up — Nina Jankowicz — had resigned.
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DOOCY TIME: &quot;Last wk, you guys said&#8230;you needed the Disinformation Governance Board at DHS to make sure&#8230;freedom of speech is protected across the country &amp; that these platforms are not used for forums of disinformation&#8230;What changed?&quot;
KJP laments it&#39;s been &quot;mischaracterized&quot; <a href="https://t.co/U7SwoonTZ3">pic.twitter.com/U7SwoonTZ3</a>
&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1527011162461716481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;Last week, you guys said that you needed the Disinformation Governance Board at DHS to make sure that freedom of speech is protected across the country and that these platforms are not used for forums of disinformation,&#8221; Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy said, asking, &#8220;So, what changed?&#8221;
Jean-Pierre noted that the official statement from DHS had been that the board had been &#8220;intentionally mischaracterized&#8221; despite the administration&#8217;s efforts to &#8220;explicitly&#8221; detail what the board would and would not do.
&#8220;It was never about censorship, policing speech, or removing content from anywhere,&#8221; Jean-Pierre continued, adding that the goal was to make sure that DHS was aware of threats posed by disinformation pushed by foreign actors. She went on to say that while the board was on hold, the mission would continue regardless.
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Doocy: &quot;So, if it&#39;s pausing b/c you think the board was mischaracterized, then the Disinformation Board is being shut down b/c of disinformation? Is that what&#39;s happening here?&quot;
KJP: &quot;Look&#8230;it&#39;s going to pause. There&#39;s been a mischaracterations [sic] from outside forces.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/KWzUHqSrrg">pic.twitter.com/KWzUHqSrrg</a>
&mdash; Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) <a href="https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/1527012377631371264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;So, if it&#8217;s pausing because you think the board was mischaracterized, then the Disinformation Board is being shut down because of disinformation? Is that what&#8217;s happening here?&#8221; Doocy asked.
&#8220;Look, I mean the board was put forth for a purpose, right? To make sure that we really did address what was happening across the country when it came to misinformation,&#8221;Jean-Pierre pushed back.
&#8220;And it&#8217;s okay to wait now 75 days?&#8221; Doocy pressed.
&#8220;Well, no it&#8217;s just — it&#8217;s going to pause. There&#8217;s been a mischaracterations [sic] from outside forces,&#8221; Jean-Pierre said again, once more promising that even though the board was going to &#8220;pause&#8221; for reevaluation, officials within the DHS still planned to continued the work.
&#8220;The work doesn&#8217;t stop. We&#8217;re still going to continue the work, the DHS is still going to continue the work,&#8221; Jean-Pierre said.
Jean-Pierre&#8217;s comments echoed the framing of a report that broke Wednesday morning at The Washington Post — written by Taylor Lorenz — which claimed essentially that the board was derailed by a &#8220;coordinated&#8221; attack campaign promoted by Right-wing activists and had resulted in such &#8220;harassment&#8221; that Jankowicz had ultimately resigned.
Independent journalist Glenn Greenwald mocked the framing in a series of tweets, saying, &#8220;It&#8217;s a cause of momentary celebration that the Department of Homeland Security was forced by popular anger to &#8216;pause&#8217; its Disinformation Board and the absurd #Resistance cartoon they hired to run it, but read this to see how angry Post and @TaylorLorenz are that this happened.&#8221;
&#8220;Investigating and criticizing a Homeland Security official is now &#8216;harassment&#8217; and bullying according to the WashPost and @TaylorLorenz. Only ordinary citizens can be investigated — not high-level U.S. Security State operatives. Them&#8217;s the rules,&#8221; he continued.
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Investigating and criticizing a Homeland Security official is now &quot;harassment&quot; and bullying, according to the WashPost and <a href="https://twitter.com/TaylorLorenz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TaylorLorenz</a>.
Only ordinary citizens can be investigated &#8212; not high-level US Security State operatives. Them&#39;s the rules:<a href="https://t.co/rtHpupbeMw">https://t.co/rtHpupbeMw</a>
&mdash; Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) <a href="https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/1526946701310840832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Press Briefing Held By White House Press Secretary Jean-Pierre And National Security Advisor Sullivan

New White House Press Sec Claims Disinformation, ‘Mischaracterizations’ Tanked Disinformation Board

Karine Jean-Pierre Claims Disinformation Tanked Disinformation Board

Karine Jean-Pierre

Peter Doocy

White House

On Wednesday, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/05/18/disinformation-board-dhs-nina-jankowicz/">reported</a> that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was pausing its Disinformation Governance Board that supposedly intended to monitor issues online relating to &#8220;national security.&#8221; Shortly after, President Joe Biden&#8217;s pick to lead the body, dubbed the &#8220;Ministry of Truth&#8221; by critics, announced her resignation.
Wall Street Journal reporter Dustin Volz <a href="https://twitter.com/dnvolz/status/1526956440228872193?s=20&amp;t=0vPQ89GjQ5Xl8l-VsQt2Uw">confirmed</a> Wednesday morning a story first reported by The Washington Post which claimed that DHS had put the kibosh on the newly created board on Monday &#8220;amid internal confusion and uncertainty about its future.&#8221; Volz added that Nina Jankowicz, an author and &#8220;expert&#8221; on disinformation, was resigning as the board&#8217;s executive director.
&#8220;With the Board&#8217;s work paused and its future uncertain, and I have decided to leave DHS to return to my work in the public sphere,&#8221; Jankowicz <a href="https://twitter.com/dnvolz/status/1526960062194925575?s=20&amp;t=0vPQ89GjQ5Xl8l-VsQt2Uw">said</a>, Volz reported. &#8220;It is deeply disappointing that mischaracterizations of the Board became a distraction from the Department&#8217;s vital work, and indeed, along with recent events globally and nationally, embodies why it is necessary. I maintain my commitment to building awareness of disinformation&#8217;s threats and trust the Department will do the same.&#8221;
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Statement from <a href="https://twitter.com/wiczipedia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@wiczipedia</a>: &quot;With the Board’s work paused and its future uncertain, and I have decided to leave DHS to return to my work in the public sphere. It is deeply disappointing that mischaracterizations of the Board became a distraction from the Department’s vital work&quot; <a href="https://t.co/AG8GjoFp1i">pic.twitter.com/AG8GjoFp1i</a>
&mdash; Dustin Volz (@dnvolz) <a href="https://twitter.com/dnvolz/status/1526960062194925575?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 18, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The Post reported that the disinformation board was not actually intended to censor speech, but rather protect it, as one source told the paper.
The Post&#8217;s source placed the blame for the board&#8217;s collapse at the hands of DHS for being unprepared to handle so-called &#8220;disinformation campaigns&#8221; from Right-wing media. The paper implied that conservatives were lying about the board, but conservatives have argued that the vagueness of the board&#8217;s mission meant it <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/is-federal-censorship-coming-biden-admin-creating-disinformation-governance-board-report">could potentially be used</a> in conjunction with Big Tech to censor certain stories deemed &#8220;national security threats&#8221; by some gatekeepers, thereby trampling on free speech.
The board was also announced shortly after former President Barack Obama delivered a speech calling for the federal government and private leaders to work hand in hand to combat disinformation related to &#8220;national security threats.&#8221;
In late April of this year, Obama stated that he believed that “<a href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1517333877580197888?s=20&amp;t=igo9GF8zFLCBSqSwznkybw">some democratic oversight</a>” was needed on the internet to supposedly protect democracies from disinformation.
“I believe we should use every tool at our disposal to secure our greatest gift – a government of, by, and for the people – for generations to come,” he <a href="https://twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1517333885255790592?s=20&amp;t=igo9GF8zFLCBSqSwznkybw">added</a>.
Critics speculated that the board would be used towards those ends.

Joe Biden

Biden’s Disinformation ‘Chief’ Resigns After Homeland Security Puts Board On Hold

Biden's Disinformation Governance Board Placed On Pause, Nina Jankowicz Resigns

Department of Homeland Security

Washington Post

Virginia Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares sent a letter signed by 20 GOP attorneys general on Thursday to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas threatening legal action against its &#8216;un-American&#8217; Disinformation Governance Board.
The <a href="https://www.oag.state.va.us/files/MIYARES2022/DGBLetter_Final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> claims that the new board violates the constitutional freedoms that attorneys general are called to defend.
&#8220;As the chief legal officers of our respective States, we the undersigned Attorneys General are tasked not just with enforcing the laws, but with protecting the constitutional rights of all our citizens,&#8221; the GOP leaders wrote.
&#8220;Today we write you to insist that you immediately cease taking action that appears designed exclusively for the purpose of suppressing the exercise of constitutional rights,&#8221; they added.
The letter also condemned the chilling impact the board would have on the free speech rights of Americans.
&#8220;The existence of the Disinformation Governance Board will inevitably have a chilling effect on free speech. Americans will hesitate before they voice their constitutionally protected opinions, knowing that the government’s censors may be watching, and some will decide it is safer to keep their opinions to themselves,&#8221; the letter stated.
The Republican attorneys general concluded with a warning of legal action if the Disinformation Governance Board moves forward.
&#8220;Unless you turn back now and disband this Orwellian Disinformation Governance Board immediately, the undersigned will have no choice but to consider judicial remedies to protect the rights of their citizens,&#8221; the letter concluded.
Miyares also released a statement along with the letter to reaffirm the need to protect free speech from the proposed DHS board.
“Freedom of speech is the bedrock of democracy. Instead of protecting and fostering it, this administration wants to create an organization that would have federal bureaucrats monitoring citizens’ speech. This would undoubtedly lead to Americans self-censoring their ideas and debates. I am concerned about the spread of false information, but creating a federal agency to police speech is not the way to address it. As the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia, I cannot stand by as the rights of every Virginian are being threatened. The war on the First Amendment must stop,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.oag.state.va.us/media-center/news-releases/2372-may-5-2022-attorney-general-miyares-leads-multistate-letter-urging-biden-administration-to-stop-their-attack-on-the-first-amendment" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>.
In addition to Virginia, the other states represented in the letter include Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
The effort comes following another letter by Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee sent to new Disinformation Governance Board leader Nina Jankowicz asking her to provide testimony regarding her new role.
The letter was signed by Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, a ranking member of the committee, along with 11 additional GOP House Judiciary Committee members.
“This Board is un-American, anti-democratic, and a dangerous escalation of the Biden Administration’s embrace of government-endorsed censorship,” the GOP leaders wrote to Jankowicz.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a>: Judiciary Republicans seek testimony from Nina Jankowicz on the newly established so-called &quot;Disinformation Governance Board.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/letSY3ya08">pic.twitter.com/letSY3ya08</a>
&mdash; House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/1522252341767987200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
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On Monday, the DHS announced in a press release that there has already been confusion about the new board that is leading to a new assessment of its work.
&#8220;There has been confusion about the working group, its role, and its activities. The reaction to this working group has prompted DHS to assess what steps we should take to build the trust needed for the Department to be effective in this space,&#8221; the DHS <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2022/05/02/fact-sheet-dhs-internal-working-group-protects-free-speech-other-fundamental-rights" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a>.

Miyares

20 GOP Attorneys General Threaten Legal Action Over ‘Un-American’ Disinformation Board

20 GOP Attorneys General Threaten Legal Action Over 'Un-American' Disinformation Board

Alejandro Mayorkas

Attorney General

Biden Administration

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter to new Disinformation Governance Board leader Nina Jankowicz asking her to provide testimony regarding her new role within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The letter was signed by Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, a ranking member of the committee, along with 11 additional GOP House Judiciary Committee members.
“This Board is un-American, anti-democratic, and a dangerous escalation of the Biden Administration’s embrace of government-endorsed censorship,” the GOP leaders wrote to Jankowicz.
“In addition, judging from your past statements, Americans can not and should not trust you with your newfound authority to act as the Biden Administration’s arbiter of the truth,” the letter added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BREAKING?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BREAKING</a>: Judiciary Republicans seek testimony from Nina Jankowicz on the newly established so-called &quot;Disinformation Governance Board.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/letSY3ya08">pic.twitter.com/letSY3ya08</a>
&mdash; House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) <a href="https://twitter.com/JudiciaryGOP/status/1522252341767987200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 5, 2022</a></blockquote>
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The committee strongly spoke against the formation of the new board, claiming there should not be a government group limiting the free speech rights of Americans.
“The ability of Americans to engage in robust debate and conversation is the foundation of American politics, and there is no place for a de facto ministry of truth in our government. The very idea of a ministry of truth should be revolting to all Americans who hold our Bill of Rights in high regard,” the letter said.
The letter requested that Jankowicz provide all documents and communications relating to the creation of the board by May 19, including interactions between the board and social media companies.
In addition to concerns about the new disinformation governing board, Republican leaders have expressed problems with Jankowicz as the leader of the new group, especially regarding some of her own past social media videos and statements.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mayorkas-admits-dhs-chose-disinfo-czar-without-knowing-about-her-social-media-videos" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admitted</a> during a Wednesday hearing that he was “not aware” of the videos posted on social media by Jankowicz.
Mayorkas made the concerning statement in response to questions from a Senate Appropriations subcommittee about the board and the decision to appoint Jankowicz to lead it.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
KENNEDY: &quot;When the department picked [Nina Jankowicz], was the department aware of her Tik Tok videos? They&#39;re really quite precocious.&quot;
MAYORKAS: &quot;I was not aware of those videos.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/eBgbwDMpok">pic.twitter.com/eBgbwDMpok</a>
&mdash; Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1521865178513563648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2022</a></blockquote>
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“When the department picked [Nina Jankowicz], was the department aware of her Tik Tok videos? They’re really quite precocious,” Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) asked, referencing now-viral videos of Jankowicz singing about disinformation to the tune of the “Mary Poppins” song, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”
“I was not aware of those videos,” Mayorkas replied.
Some GOP leaders are also seeking to defund the new Disinformation Governance Board before it begins.
Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton introduced a bill on Tuesday that would ban federal funding from being used to launch the new DHS board.
Cotton was joined in the <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/download/disinformation-board-bill-text" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legislation</a> with support from a team of 18 co-sponsors among the Senate’s Republicans.
“The Biden administration wants a government agency dedicated to cracking down on what its subjects can say, an idea popular with Orwellian governments everywhere. This board is unconstitutional and un-American—my bill puts a stop to it,” Cotton said in a <a href="https://www.cotton.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cotton-colleagues-introduce-legislation-to-defund-homeland-securitys-disinformation-board" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.
Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley also took a strong position against the new board in a Twitter post on Monday.
&#8220;Congress must act now to abolish this censorship board and prevent any future President who doesn’t believe in the Constitution from ever trying it again,&#8221; he wrote.
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Too late. Congress must act now to abolish this censorship board and prevent any future President who doesn’t believe in the Constitution from ever trying it again <a href="https://t.co/nLhZbKyzpe">https://t.co/nLhZbKyzpe</a>
&mdash; Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1521253255954812936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2022</a></blockquote>
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House Republicans Demand Answers From Nina Jankowicz On New ‘Disinformation Governance Board’

Judiciary Republicans Demand Answers From Nina Jankowicz On New 'Disinformation Governance Board'

House Republicans

Jim Jordan

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas conceded during a Wednesday hearing that he was &#8220;not aware&#8221; of some of the videos posted on social media by Nina Jankowicz, who was tapped by his department last week to head the Disinformation Governance Board.
Mayorkas fielded questions from a Senate Appropriations subcommittee about the recently-announced board and the decision to appoint Jankowicz to lead it.
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KENNEDY: &quot;When the department picked [Nina Jankowicz], was the department aware of her Tik Tok videos? They&#39;re really quite precocious.&quot;
MAYORKAS: &quot;I was not aware of those videos.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/eBgbwDMpok">pic.twitter.com/eBgbwDMpok</a>
&mdash; Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1521865178513563648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2022</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;When the department picked [Nina Jankowicz], was the department aware of her Tik Tok videos? They&#8217;re really quite precocious,&#8221; Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) asked, referencing now viral videos of Jankowicz singing about disinformation to the tune of the &#8220;Mary Poppins&#8221; song, &#8220;Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.&#8221;
&#8220;I was not aware of those videos,&#8221; Mayorkas replied.
The video Kennedy referenced was posted by Jankowicz on February 17, 2021, with the caption, &#8220;You can just call me the Mary Poppins of disinformation.&#8221;
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You can just call me the Mary Poppins of disinformation 💁🏻‍♀️ <a href="https://t.co/eGV9lpctYn">https://t.co/eGV9lpctYn</a> <a href="https://t.co/WVQFA2bPmq">pic.twitter.com/WVQFA2bPmq</a>
&mdash; Nina Jankowicz (@wiczipedia) <a href="https://twitter.com/wiczipedia/status/1362153807879303171?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Other comments she has made on social media — including referring to the New York Post&#8217;s story about Hunter Biden&#8217;s laptop as Russian disinformation — led Republicans and even CNN anchor Dana Bash to question Mayorkas as to whether or not he believes Jankowicz is capable of leading the Disinformation Governance Board without allowing her own <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/my-ears-want-to-commit-suicide-greg-gutfeld-bashes-thought-police-over-new-chiefs-mary-poppins-mash-up/">personal political views</a> to affect her job.
Bash <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/guarantee-that-dana-bash-corners-mayorkas-with-concerns-disinfo-board-will-monitor-americans/">pressed Mayorkas</a> on the matter on Sunday morning&#8217;s broadcast of &#8220;State of the Union,&#8221; asking him to &#8220;guarantee&#8221; that the board would not monitor Americans in its efforts to root out disinformation.
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Mayorkas: Nina Jankowicz “eminently qualified” to lead disinformation board; “absolutely” neutral politically
Mayorkas also obfuscates on whether he’d support the same effort under Trump <a href="https://t.co/9N1d0Pgny0">pic.twitter.com/9N1d0Pgny0</a>
&mdash; Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1520768074668023809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Mayorkas insisted that Jankowicz would &#8220;absolutely&#8221; be neutral in that position, but did not have a direct answer when Bash countered with a question about whether he would support a similar board being stood up under an administration headed by former President Donald Trump.
&#8220;Would you be okay if Donald Trump were president, if he created this disinformation governance board? Or — if it is in place and he wins again in 2024 — that he’s in charge of such a thing?” Bash asked.
Mayorkas evaded the direct question, saying instead, &#8220;I believe that this working group, that gathers together best practices, makes sure that our work is coordinated, consistent with those best practices, that we’re safeguarding the right of free speech, that we’re safeguarding civil liberties, I think, is an extraordinarily important endeavor.&#8221;

DHS Secretary Mayorkas Testifies In Senate Hearing

Mayorkas Admits DHS Chose Disinfo Czar Without Knowing About Her Social Media Videos

Mayorkas Admits DHS Chose Nina Jankowicz For Disinformation Governance Board Without Knowing About Her Social Media Videos

John Kennedy

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