Nina Jankowicz, who briefly served as the head of President Joe Biden’s Disinformation Governance Board, has a new “dark money” venture with ties to left-wing groups.
Jankowicz returned to the public eye Tuesday to testify in front of a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on the “Censorship-Industrial Complex.” She is currently the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of the American Sunlight Project, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that vows to “protect American democracy from the threat of disinformation” and increase “the cost of lies that undermine democracy.” The organization conducts research, speaks with officials and carries out education related to “disinformation,” according to its website.
Before her reemergence, Jankowicz became familiar to Americans after the Biden administration tapped her to lead a then-new Department of Homeland Security advisory board, the Disinformation Governance Board.
The Board’s stated goal, “to better coordinate the Department’s work to counter disinformation,” prompted fierce backlash from liberals and conservatives alike. It also invited scrutiny of Jankowicz’s own record with the truth.
She had previously dismissed the Hunter Biden laptop story as “a Trump campaign product.” She also alleged that it was Republicans who funded the discredited Steele Dossier in a now-deleted tweet, according to a web archive.
Her checkered history with the truth led to critics bestowing the tongue-in-cheek moniker “Disinformation Czar” upon Jankowicz.
Critics also borrowed the Orwellian term “Ministry of Truth” to refer to her Disinformation Governance Board. Jankowicz resigned after broad public criticism and the disbanding of the board.
She doubled down on her support for the discredited theory that the Hunter Biden laptop was Russian disinformation Tuesday.
51 former intelligence agency officials signed a 2020 letter claiming that the laptop “had all the hallmarks of Russian disinformation.” The laptop turned out to be authentic and the Trump administration revoked security clearances for the 51 officials. That did not stop Jankowicz from defending them.
“Those guys were exercising their right to free speech and actually, what they said was that it bore the hallmarks of a disinformation campaign which, based on the evidence at the time, was true,” she told Republican Washington Rep. Michael Baumgartner during the hearing. (RELATED: Disinformation ‘Experts’ Are Keeping Quiet After Latest Twist In Hunter Biden Laptop Scandal)
Baumgartner asked Jankowicz to disclose the American Sunlight Project’s donors, specifically whether the organization received funding from George Soros’ foundation network. She refused to name any donors, pointing out that she was not legally required to do so.
“So sunlight for other people but not for your donors,” Baumgarnter quipped.
Nina Jankowicz, the short-lived head of Biden’s Disinformation Governance Board aka Disinformation Czar refuses to say if her new org, The American Sunlight Projegt, is funded by George Soros.
“So sunlight for other people but not for your donors” @RepBaumgartner quips… pic.twitter.com/2RIiI1VU16
— Rob (@RobMcGravytrain) April 1, 2025
Though Jankowicz dodged the question, members of the nonprofit’s workforce and advisory board have deep ties to the Democratic establishment and, in one case, a recent protest movement aimed at Elon Musk’s Tesla.
While his associations have been scrubbed from the project’s current website, an archived version listed Carlos Álvarez-Aranyos as American Sunlight’s co-founder and chief communications officer (CCO). His LinkedIn profile indicates that he left the CCO position in November, but it still claims he is an advisory board member. He also founded an organization named American Opposition in January, according to the profile.
Álvarez-Aranyos has raised eyebrows recently by appearing to take credit for a recent wave of protests against Tesla.
“I was one of the people that launched the call for a boycott of Tesla,” Álvarez-Aranyos bragged in a video posted by Lights On with Jessica Denson. He was leading a protest outside the Washington, DC, offices of Fox News and NBC News, according to the video’s description.
He also seemingly downplayed a recent string of vandalism committed against Tesla businesses and vehicles. (RELATED: Anti-Musk Group Behind ‘Day Of Action’ Against Tesla Offers Tips On ‘Jail Support,’ Finding ‘Target’s’ Home Address)
“That story is not a story of violence, it is not a story of vandalism. It is a story of the American people using their economic power to send a message to the oligarchy that they can’t buy this country!” Álvarez-Aranyos yelled.
An American Opposition press release said Alvarez-Aranyos was also involved with Protect Democracy, an organization that assisted former Trump 2016 campaign staffer Jessica Denson in her lawsuit against President Trump. Her 2016 legal victory against Trump nullified NDAs for 2016 campaign employees.
Other members of the American Sunlight Project include Managing Director Jessica Presley, who previously worked for former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Reed Galen, a co-founder of the staunchly anti-Trump neoconservative Lincoln Project, according to its website.
The Daily Caller reached out to American Sunlight Project for further clarification of their mission and their removal of Álvarez-Aranyos from their staff page, but did not hear back by time of publication.