Lauren C. Moye, FISM News
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Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has issued subpoenas to three officials who are connected to the short-lived “Disinformation Governance Board” and the controversial National School Board Association (NSBA) letter that asked President Joe Biden to investigate parents as domestic terrorists.
DISINFORMATION BOARD DIRECTOR SUBPOENAED
In the first letter posted on Sunday evening, Jordan reminded Nina Jankowicz, former chairman of the disinformation board, that the Committee on the Judiciary is conducting oversight of the contentious, and now defunct, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) board.
“We have repeatedly sought information from you concerning your official actions and duties as a DHS employee and former Executive Director of the Board, including how the Board intended to define disinformation, how it planned to collect information and from what sources, how it anticipated countering disinformation, and how it proposed to protect First Amendment rights,” Jordan said.
The disinformation board only existed for around three weeks due to public criticism, but much about its conception, purpose, and functions remain unknown nearly a year later.
While DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the board would not infringe on free speech or civil liberties, internal documents have suggested otherwise. Rather than an international focus, the board planned to focus on issues by topic according to documents obtained by Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Miss.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa).
Jankowicz serving as the director of the board was also a concern. She has a history of accusing Republicans of spreading disinformation for political and financial gains. For example, she said the now-confirmed Hunter Biden laptop scandal was a GOP “campaign product.”
Jordan said there have been five attempts to voluntarily gain information from Jankowicz beginning on May 5, 2022. The committee also contacted Jankowicz on Dec. 1, Jan. 27, Feb. 16, and March 1. All letters went unanswered.
Now, the Judiciary Committee has elevated their voluntary request to a compelled testimony, noting that oversight of the axed disinformation board was within their legal right.
WEAPONIZATION SUBCOMMITTEE SUBPOENAES NATIONAL SCHOOL BOARD OFFICIALS
In a separate letter dated yesterday, the Weaponization Subcommittee also subpoenaed Chip Slaven, former interim director of the NSBA, and Viola Garcia, the secretary and treasurer for the NSBA, for the oversight of “misuse of criminal and counterterrorism resources by the executive branch against concerned parents.”
#NEW: @Jim_Jordan subpoenas Chip Slaven and Viola Garcia.
Compels them to appear for a deposition relating to the National School Boards Association decision to label parents as domestic terrorists. pic.twitter.com/qSkSXYj1CU
— Weaponization Committee (@Weaponization) March 6, 2023
In September 2021, Garcia and Slaven signed a letter urging Biden to use counterterrorism tools such as the Patriot Act against parents who protested woke curricula and policies at school board meetings.
The NSBA later apologized in the face of the resulting backlash, but the apology only referred to the wording used. There was no regret expressed for asking for federal help to investigate parents.
On Oct. 4, 2021, Attorney General Andrew Garland issued a memo to the FBI which directed agents to investigate these parents. A whistleblower confirmed investigations happened, and the Department of Justice later admitted 25 incidents were investigated that fell into the threat tag created in response to the NSBA letter.
DEMOCRATS STILL PUSH FOR CENSORSHIP
Both the disinformation board and the NSBA letter alarmed critics for their seemingly insidious motive to punish or at least limit the expression of the conservative viewpoint. The public outcry forced both measures to be walked back.
However, some Democrats seemed determined to ignore these lessons. Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson is now advocating for a bill to create another Orwellian-like Ministry of Truth organization at the state level.
In addition to establishing a 13-person commission on domestic violence extremism, HR 1333 would also direct this commission to “combat disinformation and misinformation” while collecting incidents of “domestic violent extremism.”
According to The Center Square, Ferguson has previously said this can include noncriminal activities and speech. The resulting punishment could be compelled counseling to “deradicalized” somebody labeled an extremist.
The idea is to intervene before a domestic terrorism act is committed, but Ferguson and other Washington Democrats are opening the door to harassing political opponents.