A Department of Homeland Security advisory council concluded Monday there was “no need” for a board to combat the threat of disinformation.
The recommendation from the 36-member advisory council comes after DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified before Congress in April that disinformation was a threat “not only to election security but to our homeland security.”
The members of the advisory council were mostly hand-picked by Mayorkas, according to the Washington Post.
“At this point, we have concluded that there is no need for a Disinformation Governance Board,” the advisory council said Monday.
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The council added that it is not yet ready to provide recommendations to the DHS on how it can most effectively approach “disinformation threats.” The council’s full report on the matter is due on Aug. 3.
DHS launched the disinformation board in April and appointed disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz to serve as its first executive director. Within weeks, the board was put on “pause” and Jankowicz tendered her resignation.
The board immediately drew intense criticism from conservative critics, who dubbed the venture an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth.” Republican lawmakers also lambasted DHS for appointing Jankowicz to be the nation’s top disinformation official, highlighting her own history of wrongly labeling legitimate claims as disinformation.
Jankowicz cast doubt on the legitimacy of Hunter Biden’s abandoned laptop, dismissed the theory that COVID-19 may have emerged from a lab in Wuhan, downplayed Iran’s efforts to meddle in the 2020 election in favor of President Joe Biden, and promoted debunked claims that former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election.
Jankowicz scolded Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Josh Hawley in a public letter Monday, saying their “lies” about her record of spreading disinformation and their continued insistence to conduct congressional oversight on the disinformation board have led to threats and attacks against her.
“I resigned my position at DHS two months ago today,” Jankowicz said in a tweet promoting her letter. “Despite that, I continue to be defamed & threatened based on the work I was hired to do.”
“I do not deserve this level of personal attack for having accepted a position serving my country in my area of expertise, which has been recognized by Members on both sides of the aisle,” Jankowicz said in the letter. “No one deserves to be subject to such vitriol, and make no mistake, it is those in positions of power like yours who tacitly encourage it.”
Both Grassley and Hawley were unfazed by Jankowicz’s letter.
“The Biden Admin lied about their censorship board for months,” Hawley tweeted on Monday. “Only when a patriotic whistleblower came forward with documents did we learn the truth. Now Nina Jankowicz is trying to shut down questions based on whistleblower revelations. She should come & testify. Under oath.”
Grassley spokesman Taylor Foy said in a statement Monday the senator had no regrets about conducting oversight on the DHS’s disinformation board.
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“Americans were rightly concerned about revelations that a bureaucratic government entity was set up to steer DHS counter disinformation efforts, especially given the track records of those who were hired to lead the effort,” Foy said. “Sen. Grassley became increasingly concerned when he received whistleblower information raising questions about social media platforms’ proposed role in helping to enforce the board’s priorities.”
“Oversight of the federal government, however unflattering, is an essential role of Congress, and Sen. Grassley intends to continue seeking answers for the American people,” Foy added.
