The Biden administration is calling in backup to bail out its Disinformation Governance Board just days after a disastrous launch. Their ringer is a former government official who blamed Russia for the Hunter Biden laptop story.
Department of Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas this week tapped former DHS secretary Michael Chertoff to advise the board. Its executive director, Nina Jankowicz, had come under fire after she asserted the release of Biden's emails was a “Russian influence op.” Chertoff has made similar claims, arguing after the 2020 election that “human intelligence sources”—referring to Russian spies—likely obtained emails from Hunter Biden's computer. Chertoff dismissed as “preposterous” the claim that the emails were recovered after Biden abandoned his laptop at a computer repair shop.
Chertoff's appointment could signal more trouble for the board, which has come under intense scrutiny from Republicans. Critics have dubbed the board the “Ministry of Truth,” a nod to fears that it would enable the government to interfere with a free press. Republicans have criticized Jankowicz's defense of the Steele dossier, the Democrat-funded opposition research that made false claims of a Trump-Russia collusion.
Mayorkas, citing “confusion” about the board's role, requested the Homelan