White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday the White House had “no involvement” in pausing the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Disinformation Governance Board.
“DHS said today that they will be pausing the Disinformation Governance Board. Did the White House play a role at all in expressing frustration at how it was rolled out, or express any involvement in whether or not it should be paused?” a reporter asked Jean-Pierre during the press briefing, adding that “some experts have said it was set up to fail the way it was rolled out.”
“The board has never convened,” Jean-Pierre responded. “Yes, the board is pausing, in the sense that it will not convene” while it is being assessed, she said.
The Biden administration will continue to battle disinformation during the pause, she continued, adding that Nina Jankowicz, who has resigned from the board, has a “history of calling out misinformation” and “strong credentials.” (RELATED: Disinformation And Wizard Rock: Meet Biden’s New ‘Minister Of Truth’ At DHS)
DHS shut the board down Monday Jankowicz drafted a resignation letter Tuesday, according to the Washington Post.
“Neither Nina Jankowicz nor the board have anything to do with the 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,” Jean-Pierre said.
“Did the White House play a role at all in the pause or what should happen with the board?” the reporter pressed Jean-Pierre.
“No… we did not have involvement in this at all,” Jean-Pierre said.
The rollout of the board was “half-baked” and that the DHS got “ahead of themselves when they mentioned it in” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ testimony April 27, a congressional staffer told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Mayorkas admitted that there was “no question” that they “could’ve done a better job at communicating” what the board does when it was announced.
Jankowicz and the board have received wide-spread scrutiny from Republican Congressmembers and DHS officials under the Trump administration. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans Introduce Legislation To Defund Biden’s Disinformation Board)
Chad Wolf, former acting secretary of the DHS, told the Daily Caller that the board was established to monitor domestic disinformation and that the establishment of the board was “politicizing the issue.”
“When it comes to disinformation, it’s clear that DHS, under President Biden, is making this a core responsibility – to include in the domestic context. They are also politicizing the issue as they have established a Disinformation Governance Board in the Secretary’s office… On top of that, they have appointed a highly controversial and partisan individual to head that board” Nina Jankowicz, Wolf said.