Tipsheet

DHS Has Some Interesting Priorities as It Focuses on 'Countering Misinformation' Ahead of Midterms

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  April 27, 2022 8:00 PM

This article has been updated to include more recent tweets and Twitter trends about the story.

No matter what the Biden administration says, there is a crisis at the southern border, which some of our staff saw firsthand earlier this week. As Julio covered earlier on Wednesday, when aptly pointing out that " the DHS Secretary Decided to Gaslight Congress About the Biden Border Crisis," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas actually said that "we have effectively managed" the border crisis. This mindset may explain why the DHS has the priorities it does. On Wednesday, Mayorkas also testified that the department is setting up a Disinformation Governance Board to address so-called misinformation ahead of the midterm elections in November. 

As Bradford Betz reported for Fox News, the exchange came at the House Appropriations Committee hearing to discuss the budget for the fiscal year 2023 for the DHS. Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-IL) has raised concerns about misinformation in minority communities.

"The goal is to bring the resources of (DHS) together to address this threat," Mayorkas said. 

Nina Jankowicz, previously of the Wilson Center, will serve as executive director. She tweeted the news, linking to Wednesday morning's POLITICO Playbook, which revealed the news earlier ahead of the hearing. 

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Secretary Mayorkas and Jankowicz made such an admission mere days after Elon Musk bought Twitter. Many pointed out on Twitter this convenient timing.

As Spencer covered on Monday, after the sale was announced, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded when asked about the sale is that "what I can tell you as a general matter, no matter who owns or runs Twitter, the president has long been concerned about the power of large social media platforms, the power they have over our everyday lives, he's long argued that tech platforms must be held accountable for the harms they cause."

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) also raised concerns with Jankowicz when it comes to free speech over the years.

While the screenshotted tweets span the past few years, one comes from Monday, with Jankowicz sharing an interview from earlier this month she did with NPR. "I shudder to think about if free speech absolutists were taking over more platforms," she wrote.

Our friends at Twitchy highlighted how Jankowicz tweeted on October 22, 2020 that Hunter Biden's laptop was a matter of "Russian influence." Twitter and Facebook censored coverage of The New York Post's coverage of the laptop, which could very well have decided the election, polls show. Just last month, mainstream media outlets such as The Washington Post and The New York Times admitted what the rest of us knew all along about the laptop, but it's amounted to too little too late. 

Not only is the tweet still up on Jankowicz's account, she responded to it, claiming that she was simply live-tweeting the presidential debate. 

Jack Posobiec also pointed out his concerns with Jankowicz in several tweets.

This includes responding to Jankowicz's excuse that she had been live-tweeting the debate.

"Homeland Security" as well as "Ministry of Truth" have been trending over Twitter on Wednesday night as people react to the news.