Biden Takes Deserved Heat for “Disinformation” Board and Its Politically Charged Director

COMMENTARY The Constitution

Biden Takes Deserved Heat for “Disinformation” Board and Its Politically Charged Director

May 3, 2022 2 min read
COMMENTARY BY

Former Senior Research Associate

Erin was a Senior Research Associate in the Border Security and Immigration Center at The Heritage Foundation.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks in the East Room of the White House on April 27, 2022 in Washington, D.C Anna Moneymaker / Getty Image

Key Takeaways

President Joe Biden’s homeland security chief last week announced his agency’s new “Disinformation Governance Board” to tell Americans what is true and false.

Senators, representatives, and plenty of others also question the constitutionality of the board, calling it an attack on our First Amendment Rights.

This latest move by the Biden administration—trying to control the flow of information to Americans—sums up its entire agenda: to maintain power at all costs.

President Joe Biden’s homeland security chief last week announced his agency’s new “Disinformation Governance Board” to tell Americans what is true and false.

In a welcome development, the Biden administration is increasingly frustrated as many observers ridicule the move and refer to the board as an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth.”

“The spread of disinformation can affect border security … and public trust in our democratic institutions,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a written statement Wednesday on its new Disinformation Governance Board.

Translation: If this government doesn’t step in and change the narrative drastically, Americans might see what’s going on at the southern border, among other things, and stop trusting us entirely (which may be long overdue).

Americans are pushing back, and Biden and his Department of Homeland Security are rightfully facing heat.

Members of Congress, including 19 members of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, have vowed to keep an eye on the board. Senators, representatives, and plenty of others also question the constitutionality of the board, calling it an attack on our First Amendment Rights.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tried to walk his announcement back a few steps over the weekend, saying that criticisms of the disinformation board “are precisely the opposite of what this small working group within the Department of Homeland Security will do.”

Appearing Sunday on CNN and Fox News, Mayorkas said the board won’t monitor U.S. citizens and is an internal group that will gather best practices to address disinformation from foreign sources that threatens the homeland.

Mayorkas also doubled down in support of Nina Jankowicz, the widely criticized and hyperpartisan “disinformation expert” chosen to head DHS’ Disinformation Governance Board. He stated that he doesn’t “question her objectivity,” arguing that Jankowicz is “eminently qualified” and a “renowned expert in the field of disinformation.”

Ironically enough, though, Jankowicz has a well-documented history of promoting disinformation herself, including denying the veracity of news reports on the contents of Hunter Biden’s laptop. The Biden administration’s purporting that Jankowicz is qualified for this position sounds like the first piece of disinformation the board should tackle.

One of the most amusing and concerning aspects of this entire development is that videos continue to surface documenting Jankowicz’s bizarre demeanor.

In one video, Jankowicz can be seen singing karaoke and asking, “What does it take to be famous and powerful?”

It seems that Biden and Mayorkas gave her exactly the job she wanted.

This latest move by the Biden administration—trying to control the flow of information to Americans—sums up its entire agenda: to maintain power at all costs and silence any opposition to the administration’s progressive narrative.

The government-run Disinformation Governance Board is the last source we should consult for trusted information.

This piece originally appeared in The Daily Signal