MSNBC opinion writer claims Biden administration caved to ‘right-wing pressure’ on disinfo board

close

Video

CNN's Brian Stelter doesn't press Nina Jankowicz on her history of falsehoods.

CNN host Brian Stelter fails to press Nina Jankowicz about her history of peddling disinformation on Sunday's installment of "Reliable Sources."

The ReidOut blog writer Ja’han Jones bemoaned "Republican hysteria" Tuesday for being the "poison pill" that sunk the Biden administration’s Disinformation Governance Board, making "the country…worse off as a result."

After Monday's news that a Department of Homeland Security advisory council recommended scrapping the disinfo board, which Jones called "a turn of events equally tragic and ironic," the writer blamed "baseless allegations of political targeting" for the board's demise. 

Jones claimed it was "obvious" that "the administration simply gave in to right-wing pressure" to nix the disinfo board and said, "The fact Republicans were so successful in using disinformation to quash the Disinformation Governance Board is itself an argument for its necessity."

NINA JANKOWICZ ON PAUSED DISINFORMATION BOARD: ‘THERE WAS A DISPROPORTIONATE FOCUS ON ME’ 

An image of Nina Jankowicz from Twitter and a hand scrolling through 'fake news'  (Arkadiusz Warguła/iStock)

Jones appeared to suggest that the Republican Party had nefarious reasons for wanting to shut down the board altogether:

"In April, the Biden administration announced it was forming the Disinformation Governance Board to combat immigration-related disinformation that’s contributing to the U.S.-Mexico border crisis, as well as disinformation foreign adversaries like Russia funnel to Americans. The agency was to be led by Russian disinformation expert Nina Jankowicz. But Republicans — members of a party that has displayed an affinity for disinformation and the Russian government in recent years — rebuffed the idea."

Jankowicz, who resigned from the Biden administration as DHS shelved the disinfo board in May, has a history of peddling misinformation, especially regarding Russia. In the fall of 2020, she declared the Hunter Biden laptop in the New York Post's reporting was a "Trump campaign product" and echoed the former intelligence officials who believed without evidence that the laptop was a Russian operation. She elevated the Trump-Russia collusion narrative during the 2016 election and the Trump presidency, and she also helped legitimize the discredited Steele dossier.

DISINFORMATION BOARD SIDELINED, NEWSPAPER BLAMES CONSERVATIVE MEDIA

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 27: U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies before a House Appropriations Subcommittee on April 27, 2022 in Washington, DC.  (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Jones further claimed it was "right-wingers" who "falsely decried the board as an Orwellian infringement on free speech," although civil liberties concerns were raised from across the political spectrum. 

"There’s really no mystery why the GOP opposes efforts to curb the spread of disinformation," he wrote, while blasting "treacherous" Republicans and asserting, "The party’s agenda is set by fascist conservatives who rely on outright lies to whip up their base." 

In a melancholy conclusion, Jones gave a grim assessment that "The Disinformation Governance Board wouldn’t have been the only tool we have to fight against disinformation. But it’s noteworthy the board appears to have been consumed by the very beast it was designed to fight."

Nina Jankowicz complained about 'pause' of Disinfo Board earlier in 2022. (Screenshot/MSNBC)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP  

Jones has a history of condemning Republicans in bombastic terms. In late June, he suggested that "Missouri’s junior Republican senator, Josh Hawley, hopes Republicans use right-wing laws — like abortion bans — to terrorize political opponents and accumulate more power." The piece was part of a notable trend of liberal commentators across multiple platforms using extreme rhetoric after the Supreme Court's abortion ruling.

Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.