A total of 20 Republican attorneys general, led by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, have written a letter threatening to bring a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security’s new “Disinformation Governance Board,” which conservatives are increasingly comparing to the “Ministry of Truth” in George Orwell’s 1984.
Miyares called the Biden administration’s latest move “unacceptable and downright alarming,” and noted that its announcement came shortly after Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter was accepted.
A copy of the letter has been made available online, and Valiant News has a copy here.
The letter, addressed to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, insists that he “immediately cease taking action that appears designed exclusively for the purpose of suppressing the exercise of constitutional rights.”
“This is an unacceptable and downright alarming encroachment,” Miyares wrote of the Biden administration’s disinformation board.
“The Biden Administration’s latest effort to decide what speech is ‘acceptable’ and ‘orthodox’ combines McCarthyite speech policing with the secrecy of the English Star Chamber,” the attorney general added.
He then accused the Biden administration of using 1984 as an instruction manual.
“In short, you seem to have misunderstood George Orwell: the ‘Ministry of Truth’ described in 1984 was intended to be a warning against the dangers of socialism, not as a model government agency.”
I cannot stand by as Virginians’ freedom of speech is threatened.
The war on the First Amendment must stop.https://t.co/qiXDrQOk38
— Jason Miyares (@JasonMiyaresVA) May 5, 2022
Later in the letter, Miyares and the other signatories question the timing of the board’s creation.
“The timing of the Disinformation Governance Board’s creation is also highly suspect,” wrote Miyares. “Suddenly, just as Elon Musk prepares to acquire Twitter with the stated purpose of correcting the platform’s censorship of free speech, you announce the creation of the Disinformation Governance Board.”
Ultimately, Miyares and the 19 other signatories say that they will pursue legal options if the Biden administration does not voluntarily end the agency’s existence.
“Unless you turn back now and disband this Orwellian Disinformation Governance Board immediately,” wrote Miyares, “the undersigned will have no choice but to consider judicial remedies to protect the rights of their citizens.”
High profile signatories include Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who is running for U.S. Senate, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, who is running for Governor, and Attorney General Ken Paxton, the embattled lawman from Texas.
