Hawley rips Homeland Security 'disinformation' board for 'policing' free speech, instead of protecting border

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Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., ripped the Department of Homeland Security over its creation of a so-called "disinformation board" that he says will be policing free speech instead of the border. 

In a letter addressed to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas Thursday, Hawley voiced "deep concern" over the department’s decision to create a new "Disinformation Governance Board."  

"I confess, I at first thought this announcement was satire. Surely, no American administration would ever use the power of government to sit in judgment on the First Amendment speech of its own citizens," Hawley wrote. "Sadly, I was mistaken. Rather than protecting our border or the American homeland, you have chosen to make policing Americans’ speech your priority. This new board is most certainly unconstitutional and should be dissolved immediately." 

BORDER PATROL AGENTS REPORTEDLY ‘STUNNED’ BY MAYORKAS' STATEMENTS IN HOUSE HEARING 

Hawley argued that while Democrats for years have "controlled the public square through Big Tech allies," Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter "has shown just how tenuous that control is." The senator said it can be assumed the sole purpose of the disinformation board "will be to marshal the power of the federal government to censor conservative and dissenting speech." 

Sen. Josh Hawley asks questions during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing Wednesday, April 27, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

"This is dangerous and un-American," he wrote. "The board should be immediately dissolved." 

In testifying before the House Appropriations Subcommittee to discuss the fiscal 2023 budget for the Department of Homeland Security, Mayorkas said Wednesday a "Disinformation Governance Board" had recently been created and will be led by Undersecretary for Policy Rob Silvers and principal deputy general counsel Jennifer Gaskill. He said the goal of the board was to focus on the apparent spread of misinformation online targeting minority communities, especially before the midterms. 

Hours later, Politico first reported that Nina Jankowicz, a former global disinformation fellow at the Wilson Center, would head the board as executive director. 

Jankowicz later tweeted that one of the key reasons the board was established is to maintain the department’s commitment to protecting free speech, privacy, civil rights and civil liberties. 

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies before the House Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill, Thursday, April 28, 2022.  (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

"This is particularly ironic given Jankowicz’ extensive criticism of free speech and the First Amendment," Hawley wrote. "Jankowicz has claimed that the ‘free speech vs. censorship’ framing is a false dichotomy. And when Elon Musk announced his acquisition of Twitter, she said, ‘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.’" 

Hawley said the choice of Jankowicz to lead the board as a supposed expert was particularly troubling given her "long history of partisan attacks." 

Jankowicz has also faced criticism for her past remarks dismissing the Hunter Biden laptop report as a "Trump campaign product," as well as claims asserting that American is "systemically racist." 

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Hawley doubled down on criticism of Mayorkas, arguing his department for well over a year has "consistently treated policy views as disinformation to be monitored and investigated." 

Mayorkas returned to Congress Thursday morning to testify before House Judiciary Committee on the Biden administration’s decision to lift Title 42, Trump’s pandemic-era order that permits the federal government to prohibit the flow of migrants across the border to prevent the spread of disease.