One day after the Biden administration’s Orwellian Disinformation Governance Board (DGB) was shut down, the former Executive Director Nina Jankowicz continued making the rounds on cable news to whine about the board’s demise and her subsequent resignation, this time with an appearance on CNN Tonight.
Host Lauren Coates asked Jankowicz why the purpose of the board was “not communicated effectively?” She responded that “absolutely could and should have been communicated better” and shirked responsibility by claiming her advice wasn’t listened to, adding that she “wanted it to be communicated better.”
Further proving that she has no sense of irony or self-awareness, Jankowicz said, with a straight face, that “unfortunately and ironically we were undone exactly by a disinformation campaign coming from folks who apparently want to put our national security behind their own personal political ambitions.”
Coates followed up by asking “why was that not anticipated here in the sense that did you not expect that there would be some measure or some inclination to try to use misinformation to sow distrust in the same thing you're trying to do?”
Jankowicz responded, “there were other priorities that were kind of put ahead of this rollout of the disinformation governance board.”
Continuing her whining, Jankowicz kvetched:
We created unintentionally an information vacuum that was filled with falsehoods and frankly directed a lot of vitriol and digging into my own personal life that I think was entirely disproportionate to the amount of power I had at the department.
She then accused opponents of the DGB of being unpatriotic: “this childish behavior is putting the national security of our country behind this sort of partisan vitriol.”
CNN’s Lauren Coates hosting Jankowicz to lash out over the demise of the Disinformation Governance Board was made possible by Chase. Their information is linked.
To read the relevant transcript click “expand”:
CNN Tonight
5/19/2022
9:19:17 p.m. EasternLAURA COATES: Many people are wondering about the idea of what was the purpose of this particular, you know, organization, what you were doing and overseeing because if there were questions and concerns about the very tactics or the goals, why was that the not communicated effectively?
NINA JANKOWICZ: Well, you know, I understand Americans' concerns about the idea of government getting involved in policing speech. But the good news is the board had nothing to do with policing speech. The idea was that the board was going to be an internal coordinating mechanism making sure that DHS subcomponents, things like CBP, customs and border patrol, FEMA, which deals with natural disasters, all these components within DHS were equipped with the tools they needed to continue the work to fight disinformation that they've been doing for more than a decade already.
This absolutely could and should have been communicated better. I wanted it to be communicated better. But the reality is that the type of disinformation that DHS is charged with combatting or addressing is stuff that keeps Americans safe and secure. So, let me give you an example. I mentioned FEMA before. Let's say disinformation from an adversary like Russia, China, or Iran is putting people in harm's way during a natural disaster.
That is the type of thing we were trying to support our colleagues across the department in doing. And unfortunately and ironically we were undone exactly by a disinformation campaign coming from folks who apparently want to put our national security behind their own personal political ambitions.
COATES: Your expertise is apparent. I mean, your chyron talks about the book that you've written about this very information. You’ve just articulated the ways in which you've helped others anticipate the issue, so why was that not anticipated here in the sense that did you not expect that there would be some measure or some inclination to try to use misinformation to sow distrust in the same thing you're trying to do?
JANKOWICZ: Well, you know, DHS is an extremely large department. 250,000 people work there. The department had other priorities. It's got a huge mission set. And so at the time of the rollout, I think there were other priorities that were kind of put ahead of this rollout of the disinformation governance board. And unfortunately, the advice that I had given was not heeded about how to communicate openly, transparently, and rapidly. And we created unintentionally an information vacuum that was filled with falsehoods and frankly directed a lot of vitriol and digging into my own personal life that I think was entirely disproportionate to the amount of power I had at the department.
These decisions were being made at a much higher level than mine. And as a result, my family and I have faced threats almost every day for the past three weeks. I don't think that that is something that anybody should be priding themselves on. And frankly, the lies and falsehoods that were spread about the disinformation governance board, as I said before, this childish behavior is putting the national security of our country behind this sort of partisan vitriol. And we need to stop that because it's our adversaries who recognize that that partisanship, that politicization is exactly what they can manipulate and why America is vulnerable to disinformation right now.
