{"id":5137,"date":"2023-08-25T12:44:24","date_gmt":"2023-08-25T17:44:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/?p=5137"},"modified":"2023-08-25T12:44:25","modified_gmt":"2023-08-25T17:44:25","slug":"house-judiciary-gop-grill-mayorkas-on-inconsistent-testimony-about-biden-admins-censorship-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/?p=5137","title":{"rendered":"House Judiciary GOP grill Mayorkas on \u2018inconsistent\u2019 testimony about Biden admin\u2019s \u2018censorship activities\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg'%20viewBox='0%200%20370%20247'%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-131.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load wp-image-5138\"\/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"931\" height=\"523\" src=\"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-131.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5138\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-131.png 931w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-131-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-131-770x433.png 770w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-131-293x165.png 293w, https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-131-390x219.png 390w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 931px) 100vw, 931px\" \/><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>House Judiciary Republicans are grilling DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on his testimony to the committee about alleged censorship by the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>FIRST ON FOX<\/strong>: Republicans on the&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/house-judiciary-committee-probing-da-fani-willis-regarding-motivations-trump-prosecution\">House Judiciary Committee<\/a>&nbsp;are quizzing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over what they say are apparent contradictions in his testimony over the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s \u201ccensorship\u201d efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chairman Jim Jordan, along with Reps. Mike Johnson, R-La., Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Dan Bishop, R-N.C., wrote to Mayorkas about his testimony to the committee in July regarding the operation and scope of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and asking if he wishes to amend his testimony to the committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYour testimony at the hearing contained a number of assertions about the Department\u2019s censorship activities that are inconsistent with the findings of a federal court and information in the Committee\u2019s possession. Accordingly, we write to provide you with an opportunity to correct your testimony to ensure it is accurate and complete,\u201d they say in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Specifically, they highlighted a claim by Mayorkas that CISA, a cyber defense agency, \u201cdoes not censor speech.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Republicans on the committee have alleged that the CISA has expanded its mission to \u201csurveil Americans\u2019s speech on social media, colluded with Big Tech and government-funded third parties to censor by proxy, and tried to hide its plainly unconstitutional activities from the public.\u201d They have also released a number of tranches of documents they say are \u201csmoking gun\u201d evidence that the Biden administration and Big Tech companies ran afoul of the First Amendment on issues including COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In their letter, they cite a recent court ruling,&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/biden-likely-violated-first-amendment-covid-19-pandemic-federal-judge-says\">Missouri v Biden<\/a>, in which a judge imposed a preliminary injunction on the administration communicating with social media heads after a lawsuit from Missouri and Louisiana.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The federal judge cited evidence that officials \u201cmet with social-media companies to both inform and pressure them to censor content protected by the First Amendment.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c[T]he evidence produced thus far depicts an almost dystopian scenario. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a period perhaps best characterized by widespread doubt and uncertainty, the United States Government seems to have assumed a role similar to an Orwellian \u2018Ministry of Truth,\u2019\u201d Judge Terry Doughty wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mayorkas, in his testimony to the&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/house-republican-demands-mayorkas-answer-dhs-collusion-social-media-who-determines-whats-false\">Judiciary Committee<\/a>&nbsp;in July, was asked about claims it covered up conservative free speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCongressman, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is not involved in such conduct,\u201d he told Rep. Johnson. He went on to say that CISA identifies \u201ctactics that adverse nation states use to weaponize disinformation,\u201d which he then defined as information that is \u201cinaccurate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The lawmakers say they obtained information that \u201cmisinformation\u201d flagged by CISA included political speech of domestic origin and even social media posts by former President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They also challenge Mayorkas\u2019 assertion that \u201cswitchboarding\u201d \u2014 flagging misinformation and disinformation \u2014 was no longer done by CISA, with the lawmakers citing communications from 2021 that showed flagging was still ongoing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, they accuse him of using an \u201celastic and Orwellian\u201d definition of the term \u201cmalinformation,\u201d which CISA defines as information based on fact but used to mislead, harm or manipulate. Mayorkas had called it \u201cfalse information that is used for a particular purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They argue, therefore, that his testimony is contradicted by the court ruling and the committee\u2019s obtained documents and invite him to amend his testimony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Department of Homeland Security, and especially CISA, are central to the Biden Administration\u2019s censorship efforts and the censorship-industrial complex writ large. Your testimony to the Committee was either intentionally deceptive and misleading, or the result of an unacceptable ignorance on your part regarding the activities of your own department,\u201d they say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is the latest oversight move by the Committee and Republicans in the House in general aimed at Mayorkas \u2013 who has faced particular scrutiny over his handling of the ongoing crisis at the southern border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Original Article: <a href=\"https:\/\/conservativemodern.com\/house-judiciary-gop-grill-mayorkas-on-inconsistent-testimony-about-biden-admins-censorship-activities\/\">https:\/\/conservativemodern.com\/house-judiciary-gop-grill-mayorkas-on-inconsistent-testimony-about-biden-admins-censorship-activities\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>House Judiciary Republicans are grilling DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on his testimony to the committee about alleged censorship by the department. FIRST ON FOX: Republicans on the&nbsp;House Judiciary Committee&nbsp;are quizzing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over what they say are apparent contradictions in his testimony over the Department of Homeland Security\u2019s \u201ccensorship\u201d efforts. Chairman Jim Jordan, along with Reps. Mike Johnson, R-La., Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Dan Bishop, R-N.C., wrote to Mayorkas about his testimony to the committee in July [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-individual-liberty"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5137"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5139,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5137\/revisions\/5139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nakedpolitics.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}