Jen Psaki Has the Audacity to Ask, "Who Opposes" a Disinformation Board? We Do.

We told you yesterday how the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a new “Disinformation Governance Board.” This could be the greatest threat to freedom of speech in the United States that we have seen in our lifetime. 

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended this move by the DHS:

I really haven’t dug into this exactly. I mean, we of course support this effort, but let me see if I can get more specific. We know that there has been a range of disinformation out there about a range of topics, I mean, including COVID, for example, and also elections and eligibility. But I will – I will check and see if there’s more specifics.

What I can tell you is that the objective of the board is to prevent disinformation and misinformation from traveling around the country in a range of communities. I am not sure who opposes that effort. 

So Psaki is saying that President Biden is “of course” supporting this “Disinformation Governance Board” that will use a law enforcement agency (DHS) to “prevent” whatever it is that the Biden Administration considers “disinformation and misinformation,” including regarding the integrity of our “elections,” and then she has the audacity to ask, “Who opposes that effort?” We do.

The Founders of our country would oppose this effort. America was founded on the right to freedom of speech. ACLJ Executive Director and my son Jordan Sekulow explained how the fundamental right of free speech affects other rights as well:

Every other right kind of flows from that free speech right because you’ve got to be able to defend your other rights and that comes through speech. . . . Your religious views involve speech. Your opinion on hot-button topics involves speech. So, it all comes back to this idea that you’ve got a freedom to speak your mind. And we have limits, but . . . our courts really struggle on putting any limits there. Even when it is something really borderline . . . they get concerned about putting too many limits, because we appreciate freedom of speech so much in our country that any law that might hamper that, the courts are very wary of that. So, what do we see here? Not a law . . . but agency powers that exist kind of outside the legislative system in that gray area, where they may have deference and they may not, and they can have a lot of influence without having to go through the normal legal process.

That’s exactly right. Even as we are bringing you analysis on this infringement of free speech, we have a case at the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals over the freedom to pray. ACLJ Senior Counsel Abby Southerland joined Sekulow to discuss this case:

The case involved a community prayer vigil. The police department partnered with the community and asked the community leaders for help – tensions were very high following a crime spree and the police were trying to catch the suspects, and the community was hesitant to come forward. So, like happens almost every week in this country, the community gathered for a prayer vigil. The police department encouraged the community to be a part of it. Then we had some plaintiffs sue, and essentially the goal of their lawsuit is to prevent any further vigils from taking place.

Abby added how the court responded to our oral argument yesterday: 

The court seemed to resonate with our argument that there is manufactured planning here, meaning the plaintiff, unlike in most cases, intentionally sought out this conduct, attended this vigil so they could be offended, so they could then sue. That seems to really resonate with the court as far as lack of standing. . . . So, this is a very important case, we will have to see what the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals says, but our argument is this is a part of 200 years of history and the Establishment Clause cannot abolish it and cannot ban it.

Can you imagine what the Disinformation Board could potentially try to do to prayer if this is enacted? We aren’t going to let it get to that point. We’ve already sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Homeland security to get all of the information regarding this new board, and we’re prepared to go to court over this.

Attorney General Candidate for Arizona Abe Hamadeh joined Sekulow to discuss this Disinformation Governance Board:

It doesn’t shock me under this Biden Administration. . . . it doesn’t surprise me, but it is obviously the greatest threat we are facing. At this point, when I came back from my tour in Saudi Arabia, when I was out there, I was trying to prevent another attack . . . but now that you have another our own government labeling parents who speak out at school board meetings as potential domestic terrorists? This is what is going on . . . now that there is suddenly a ministry of truth. . . . We never want to call out the media at how complicit they were with the Hunter Biden suppression stories, or when the COVID initially came out if you tried to say that COVID actually leaked from the Wuhan lab.

Abe summed it up:

They have already been effectively silencing us. It is no longer just big government we have to worry about . . . when Big Tech is in collusion with big government as well. . . . what is going on right now . . . is that in the last few years we have been ambushed every single day, every week something new pops up . . . big government is encroaching on our lives. Joe Biden in 14-15 months, think about how much our country has changed.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast is complete with even more in-depth analysis of the DHS creating a Disinformation Governance Board as well as an update on a recent ACLJ case.

Watch the full broadcast below: