Alejandro Mayorkas took responsibility for hiring Russian misinformation 'expert' Nina Jankowicz to lead the administration's new disinformation board and admitted Wednesday that he didn't know she called the Hunter Biden laptop scandal a 'Trump campaign product'.
During a hearing on Capitol Hill, Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas was forced to again defend his pick to lead DHS's newly formed Disinformation Governance Board after she came under fire for multiple comments.
When pushed on the hiring of Jankowicz by GOP Louisiana Senator John Kennedy during an Appropriations Committee hearing on Wednesday, Mayorkas repeated he was responsible for all decisions at DHS and lauded his pick as a 'subject matter expert' on Russia and disinformation.
'We don't discuss our internal hiring processes, but I am the Secretary of Homeland Security and ultimately, I am responsible,' he said to the Senate panel.
'When the Department picked her, did it know that she had said that Mr. Hunter Biden's laptop is Russia disinformation?' Kennedy pushed Mayorkas.
'I was not aware of that,' the secretary responded.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was forced onto the defensive Wednesday when pushed on the hiring of Russian misinformation 'expert' Nina Jankowicz to lead DHS's new Disinformation Governance Board
Louisiana Senator John Kennedy pushed Mayorkas on whether he knew during hiring that Jankowicz had called Hunter Biden's laptop scandal Russian misinformation and though the Steele Dossier was legitimate
Jankowicz, who wrote the book How to Lose the Information War (pictured), suggested last month that there should be limitations on free speech on social media platforms
He did, however, concede: 'Ultimately it's the secretary responsible for the decisions for the Department of Homeland Security.'
'When the Department picked Ms. Jankowicz did it know that she had vouched for the veracity of the Steele Dossier?' Kennedy further questioned, pushing Mayorkas on the defense.
'I was not aware of that fact,' he said.
'It's my understanding that Ms. Jankowicz is a subject matter expert in the field in which she will be working on behalf of the Department,' Mayorkas added.
After Mayorkas announced last month the creation of the board, Jankowicz came under fire from Republicans and conservatives for her previous statements, including suggesting that Hunter Biden's laptop was part of a 'Russian disinformation' campaign.
She also said that she was against First Amendment rights to speech on social media platforms, claiming it would hurt marginalized communities.
A group of 50 House Republicans introduced a bill Tuesday to shut down the 'un-American' newly formed Disinformation Governance Board, which the right is likening to the Orwellian 'Ministry of Truth.'
The bill, led by GOP Louisiana Representative Mike Johnson, would defund the brand new unit just launched under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and headed by so-called Russian misinformation expert Nina Jankowicz.
'Today I led 50 @HouseGOP Members in introducing a bill to defund Biden's 'Ministry of Truth.' The government has no role in determining what constitutes truth or
