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.
Here's my official portrait to grab your attention. Now that I've got it: a HUGE focus of our work, and indeed, one of the key reasons the Board was established, is to maintain the Dept's committment to protecting free speech, privacy, civil rights, & civil liberties. ???? pic.twitter.com/C4xiEGfhDt
— Nina Jankowicz ???????? (@wiczipedia) April 27, 2022
Secretary Mayorkas and Jankowicz made such an admission mere days after Elon Musk bought Twitter. Many pointed out on Twitter this convenient timing.
They didn't need a 'Disinformation Governance Board' until @elonmusk threatened their control over the narrative.
— Congressman Troy Nehls (@RepTroyNehls) April 27, 2022
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President Biden has decided the federal government will launch a Disinformation Governance Board under the authority of the Homeland Security Department
— Jack Posobiec ???? (@JackPosobiec) April 27, 2022
Did you just think they would let you have free speech back?
The timing of this suggests Twitter has been performing that function for the administration to this point
— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry) April 27, 2022
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.
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) April 27, 2022
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.
Last week I told @NPRMichel: I shudder to think about if free speech absolutists were taking over more platforms, what that would look like for the marginalized communities…which are already shouldering…disproportionate amounts of this abuse.” https://t.co/GLqMwC3iYH
— Nina Jankowicz ???????? (@wiczipedia) April 25, 2022
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.
Back on the "laptop from hell," apparently- Biden notes 50 former natsec officials and 5 former CIA heads that believe the laptop is a Russian influence op.
— Nina Jankowicz ???????? (@wiczipedia) October 23, 2020
Trump says "Russia, Russia, Russia."
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.
For those who believe this tweet is a key to all my views, it is simply a direct quote from both candidates during the final presidential debate. If you look at my timeline, you will see I was livetweeting that evening. https://t.co/nI7ZgBtTLC https://t.co/4DjBl9bzt0
— Nina Jankowicz ???????? (@wiczipedia) April 27, 2022
Jack Posobiec also pointed out his concerns with Jankowicz in several tweets.
Here is Biden's new Disinformation Commissar claiming militarized Trump supporters were going to show up to the polls with weapons https://t.co/DirpRZwpBt
— Jack Posobiec ???? (@JackPosobiec) April 27, 2022
Jankowicz is a former advisor to the Ukrainian government, under a Fulbright-Clinton Fellowship pic.twitter.com/rgBWklyERb
— Jack Posobiec ???? (@JackPosobiec) April 27, 2022
The DHS board will be headed by Nina Jankowicz, who once claimed militarized Trump supporters would show up to the polls with weapons to intimidate voters pic.twitter.com/GNfLdh4QHr
— Jack Posobiec ???? (@JackPosobiec) April 27, 2022
Here's Nina in 2020 pic.twitter.com/u0oy72QuO5
— Jack Posobiec ???? (@JackPosobiec) April 27, 2022
What could go wrong pic.twitter.com/WP4b7N5bmK
— Jack Posobiec ???? (@JackPosobiec) April 27, 2022
This includes responding to Jankowicz's excuse that she had been live-tweeting the debate.
https://t.co/ECOryW7X37 pic.twitter.com/O1ksav2xnI
— Jack Posobiec ???? (@JackPosobiec) April 28, 2022
We caught the Biden Disinformation Head in a lie on day one on the job pic.twitter.com/TUIyoDB0RX
— Jack Posobiec ???? (@JackPosobiec) April 28, 2022
"Homeland Security" as well as "Ministry of Truth" have been trending over Twitter on Wednesday night as people react to the news.
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