On 7/14/2022, during Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) grills Biden DHS Official Samantha Vinograd on the now-defunct Disinformation Governance Board. Samantha Vinograd is serving as senior counselor in DHS. The DHS Disinformation Governance Board signed off by Sec Mayorkas. Whistleblower documents released last month by Republican Sens. Josh Hawley (Mo.) and Chuck Grassley. In April, DHS announced the creation of the DGB to monitor and combat speech it deems “disinformation.” Sec Alejandro Mayorkas defended the initiative. However, critics lambasted the board as an Orwellian “Ministry of Truth” established to silence people with certain political views. Such criticism led DHS to “pause” the DGB amid widespread outcry. One of the documents contained notes prepared in advance of a meeting between DHS officials and Twitter executives.
In a memo written to Mayorkas, DHS officials wrote that disinformation threatens homeland security. The memo, which was penned in Sept 2021 and contained similar language to the Feb 2022 bulletin, also recommended the creation of a DGB. The documents obtained by Hawley and Grassley also showed an effort by DHS to work with Twitter and other Big Tech firms to execute its mission to stamp out “disinformation.
Hawley: miss Vinograd if I could just start with you. You work in the office of strategy policy and plans is that right?
Vinograd: senator let me just say I had my first visit to the state of Missouri on Friday
Hawley: oh good (Vinograd: deeply deeply) where did you go?
Vinograd: I went to Jefferson city (Hawley: okay) I just want to share you’re totally impressed by your homeland security professional (Hawley: well thank you very much) I look forward to going back yes I work in the office of strategy policy and plans and you work with Robert Silvers there
Hawley: is that right the under secretary (I do sir) your name is on a memo with Mr. silvers dated September 13 2021. the subject is organizing DHS efforts to counter disinformation this is the memo that recommended the establishment of the disinformation board it was turned over to me and to senator Grassley by a whistleblower I have to tell you we’ve had the darndest time getting any information about this board out of your agency. We’ve asked members of this committee, … virtually nothing. Had it not been for this whistleblower who turned over a tranche of documents all of which are now public. So since I have you here and you wrote the memo let me just ask you a question or two about it. Whose idea was it to establish this board?
Vinograd: senator, the DHS has engaged in disinformation work pertaining to … as such there were discussions about creating this internal working group.
Hawley: well yeah all of that I noticed is in the passive, the passive voice. My question is whose idea was it to set up the way you use the word working group but I noticed that that’s not at all what the memo says it doesn’t call it a working group the directive that Mr. Mayorkas eventually signed off on does not make this board a working group. It had managerial authority it had directive authority all of that’s in these documents so let’s please not go back to those tired and now disproven talking points so let me come back to my question, whose idea was it to establish the board was it yours?
Vinograd: senator … I’m not going to go into the internal deliberations of the department the
Hawley: why not you’re under oath
Vinograd: I am under oath sir, that said these are internal deliberations at the department as as you know sir the charter was signed by the secretary of homeland security
Hawley: yeah I only know that by the way because of the whistleblower documents. We would not know that otherwise
Vinograd: senator the charter was signed by the secretary of homeland security the charter included, excuse me the working group included representation
Hawley: does the charter call it a working group since you bring up the charter?
Vinograd: … as I testified senator under oath …
Hawley: okay so you’re not going to answer my question Ms. Jankowicz Nina Jankowicz she was appointed to run this disinformation board how was she chosen?
Vinograd: Ms. Jankowicz was chosen consistent with practices for the hiring and vetting of political appointees (Hawley: walk me through that process who was involved?) I don’t know the full scope of that process (Hawley: you weren’t involved in it) I was involved in one piece of that process (Hawley: what was the piece that you were involved in) I spoke with Ms. Jankowicz (Hawley: at what point?) as part of the standard process for political appointees I spoke with Ms. Jankowicz.
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‘Whose Idea Was It?’ Was it your idea to establish Disinformation board? Senator Hawley Grills Biden DHS Official On Disinformation Governance Board