Less than a month after President Joe Biden’s Administration praised the initiative, the DHS has suspended the board, pending a review from an advisory council, with its leader, Nina Jankowicz, still assessing her plans within the department.
“Nina Jankowicz has been subjected to unjustified and vile personal attacks and physical threats,” a DHS spokesperson explained to the Washington Post Wednesday. “In congressional hearings and in media interviews, the secretary has repeatedly defended her as eminently qualified and underscored the importance of the department’s disinformation work, and he will continue to do so,” the representative continued, referring to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
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White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates described the “smears leveled by bad-faith, right-wing actors against a deeply qualified expert and against efforts to better combat human smuggling and domestic terrorism” as “disgusting.”
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“The administration has forcefully spoken out against them repeatedly,” he explained, according to the Washington Examiner. “Neither Nina Jankowicz nor the board have anything to do with censorship or with removing content from anywhere. Their role is to ensure that national security officials are updated on how misinformation is affecting the threat environment. She has strong credentials and a history of calling out misinformation from both the Left and the Right.”
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Former White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the board, mocked as the “Ministry of Truth,” as “a continuation of work that was done under the prior Administration.” According to Psaki, the board was created to study best practices in fighting disinformation yet lacked the authority to compel public or private stakeholders to act. She addressed concerns about Jankowicz, who had called stories regarding Hunter Biden’s laptop Russian disinformation.
“The Board’s purpose has been grossly mischaracterized; it will not police speech,” a DHS spokesperson announced. “Quite the opposite, its focus is to ensure that freedom of speech is protected.”
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Posobiec’s early tweets shaped the narrative, and Jankowicz was positioned as the primary target. Republican lawmakers echoed Posobiec’s framing and amplified it to their audiences. Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a U.S. Senate hopeful, and Rep. Andrew S. Clyde (R-Ga.) both posted tweets similar to Posobiec. Former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) also posted a video repeating Posobiec’s statements.
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Earlier, Mayorkas conceded throughout an interview with NBC that he and his aides “could have done a better job of communicating” regarding the “internal working group.”
“I don’t question her objectivity,” he added on Fox News. “There are people in the department who have a diverse range of views, and they’re incredibly dedicated to the mission. We’re not the opinion police.”
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