Jen Easterly, the Biden-appointed Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) chief, told voters to expect “normal” glitches during midterm elections.
Easterly made the comments during a panel discussion about “the future of U.S. cyber and infrastructure security.”
According to Easterly, CISA is part of the Department of Homeland Security and acts to “understand, manage and reduce risk” of American cyber and physical infrastructure – including infrastructure used during elections.
She went on to highlight how voters may experience “glitches” that “happen in every election.” She said, “There are going to be errors. There are going to be glitches. That happens in every election. But that’s why there are multiple layers of security controls and resilience built into the system.”
Easterly also said, “These things are going to happen. Somebody will forget their key to the polling place, a water pipe will burst. They’re normal things. They’re not nefarious.”
However, during an appearance on Face The Nation, Easterly was asked about potential threats to midterm election infrastructure. Easterly replied and said “Let me very clear…We have no information about specific or credible threats to disrupt or compromise election infrastructure.”
Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, on the potential of any threats to the midterm elections:
“Let me be very clear…We have no information about specific or credible threats to disrupt or compromise election infrastructure.” pic.twitter.com/E5PvbwJ4q9
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 30, 2022
She attempted to clarify CISA’s role in guarding US cyber infrastructure during elections. She said, “I want to be really clear about what CISA’s role is in this. You know, we are not an intel agency. We’re not a law enforcement agency.”
She further highlighted her agency’s relationship with social media. She said, “we don’t work with the platforms on what they do around content. That is entirely their decision. It is their terms of service. And I want to be very clear about this: We do not censor information.”
She doubled-down on her claim saying, “I want to be very clear. We do not censor anything. What social media platforms do, what the news does, is entirely their decision.”
Easterly Accused Of Censorship
Easterly is one of several Biden-era officials to be deposed in a case alleging Government and Big Tech worked together to censor voters. According the the filling, Louisiana and Missouri attorney’s general allege Easterly “supervises the ‘nerve center’ of federally directed censorship.”
The filing also claims Easterly categorizes social media posts are forms of “infrastructure,” which then puts social media activity within the purview of her agency. The documents claim she said, “the most critical infrastructure is a cognitive infrastructure.”
The suit also focuses on text messages between her and a former CISA agent. These messages discuss motivation to seek “greater censorship and that this would be done by federal pressure on social media platforms to increase censorship.”
