In a Capitol Hill hearing room, American lawmakers gathered to examine whether a network of activist organizations — funded in part by a U.S. technology entrepreneur living in Shanghai — has been quietly channeling foreign influence into domestic political life. The inquiry centered on Neville Roy Singham and $278 million allegedly distributed to groups advancing narratives aligned with China, Cuba, Iran, and Russia. What unfolded was not merely a policy debate but a collision between competing definitions of dissent: one side seeing protest theater as free expression, the other seeing it as a
House panel examines foreign influence operations as CodePink activists removed from hearing
They're using it to enrich themselves and whip people up on social media
Mark
So the core claim here is that Singham's money is being used to amplify foreign government interests in America. But what exactly is the evidence that these groups are taking direction from Beijing or Tehran?
Mimi
The testimony presented research showing Singham's physical connections in Shanghai—shared office space with a Chinese communications firm, attendance at a CCP strategic communications workshop. And witnesses pointed to messaging alignment: that Singham-funded groups echoed Chinese talking points on AI and data centers. But the witnesses were careful to say this is about translating foreign themes into American activist language, not direct command-and-control.
Luke
Right, and that's important. No criminal charges have been filed. Singham says he's guided by his own beliefs. Benjamin says CodePink gets no money from the CCP. The hearing presented correlations and thematic alignment, but the actual mechanism of influence—how a directive gets from Beijing to a protest in Ohio—that wasn't spelled out in testimony.
Mark
What about the data-center campaigns? That seemed like concrete evidence of coordinated action.
Mimi
Lyman identified twenty-one campaigns across fourteen states linked to the Party for Socialism and Liberation that blocked or delayed data-center projects. But he also said—and this matters—that opposition to data centers isn't entirely manufactured. Real people have real concerns about electricity costs and environmental impact.
Luke
So the question becomes: did the Party for Socialism and Liberation manufacture opposition that wouldn't have existed otherwise, or did they amplify and organize opposition that was already there? The testimony doesn't quite answer that.
Mark
And Benjamin's removal from the hearing—was that justified?
Mimi
The subcommittee clerk deemed it a protest because of the shirts and the positioning. But Kamlager-Dove argued they were just wearing T-shirts and hadn't disrupted anything verbally. The shirts were visible on the official feed, which was arguably the point.
Luke
The irony is that Benjamin's removal became the story—or at least part of it. She got escorted out, filmed it, chased a congressman, and posted a polished video two hours later. Whether that proves she's a tool of foreign influence or just a skilled activist who knows how to work a camera—that's still unclear from what the hearing actually established.
Le Pouls
- Capitol Police escorted CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin from the hearing within thirty minutes of her arrival, her Iran- and Cuba-supporting shirts having been positioned deliberately in camera sight lines behind the witnesses.
- Researchers testified that Singham's $278 million network has seeded far-left media, protest organizations, and Marxist-Leninist groups across America, with coordinated campaigns identified in fourteen states targeting data-center development in ways that echo Chinese Communist Party messaging.
- A dissenting voice at the hearing shifted focus to Trump-era foreign entanglements, fracturing the proceedings along partisan lines and complicating the committee's attempt to present a unified front on foreign influence.
- Neither Singham nor CodePink faces criminal charges, and both deny acting on behalf of foreign governments — leaving the hearing's central claims in the contested space between allegation and proof.
- Within hours of her removal, Benjamin's team had packaged the day's confrontations into a forty-three-second social-media clip, which was rapidly amplified by allied networks — enacting in real time the very influence mechanism the hearing had convened to examine.
In a Capitol Hill hearing room, American lawmakers gathered to examine whether a network of activist organizations — funded in part by a U.S. technology entrepreneur living in Shanghai — has been quietly channeling foreign influence into domestic political life. The inquiry centered on Neville Roy Singham and $278 million allegedly distributed to groups advancing narratives aligned with China, Cuba, Iran, and Russia. What unfolded was not merely a policy debate but a collision between competing definitions of dissent: one side seeing protest theater as free expression, the other seeing it as a instrument of adversarial statecraft. The question the hearing left open is one democracies have always struggled to answer — where does legitimate advocacy end and foreign manipulation begin.
On a Wednesday afternoon on Capitol Hill, three CodePink activists walked into a congressional hearing wearing shirts bearing messages of support for Iran and Cuba. They were escorted out within thirty minutes. The entrance had been carefully staged — slogans visible behind the witnesses on the official camera feed — and it became a live demonstration of the very phenomenon the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee had gathered to investigate: the use of protest theater as a tool of foreign influence.
At the heart of the inquiry was Neville Roy Singham, an American technology entrepreneur who has lived in Shanghai for years and who, according to testimony and reporting presented at the hearing, has directed $278 million into a web of U.S. nonprofits, media platforms, and activist organizations. The recipients included CodePink, People's Forum, and BreakThrough News — groups that researchers described as amplifying narratives aligned with Beijing, Havana, and Tehran. Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga named China, Cuba, Iran, and Russia as the ultimate beneficiaries, arguing they share a single strategic goal: weakening the United States from within.
Witnesses described a layered architecture of influence. Heritage Foundation senior fellow Mike Gonzalez outlined what he called a 'red-green' alliance between far-left and Islamist organizations, with money passing through intermediaries before reaching groups that organize protests and shape political messaging. Sam Lyman of the Bitcoin Policy Institute presented evidence that Singham-funded organizations had echoed Chinese Communist Party positions on artificial intelligence, data centers, and technology policy — with coordinated campaigns across fourteen states contributing to project rejections and moratoriums. Lyman was careful to note that not all opposition to data centers was manufactured; genuine local concerns about energy costs and environmental impact existed independently.
The hearing was not without friction from within. Donald Sherman of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington used his testimony to raise questions about Trump family business dealings abroad and the acceptance of a Qatari aircraft for Air Force One, pulling the proceedings into partisan crosscurrents. Democratic Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove objected to Benjamin's removal, arguing the activists had done nothing more than wear T-shirts.
Neither Singham nor CodePink has been charged with any crime. Both deny acting as agents of foreign governments. But the hearing's sharpest argument was structural rather than legal: that social-media content, protest spectacle, and coordinated messaging can function as instruments of foreign power regardless of whether those wielding them know it. The argument was given an unintentional demonstration at 4:38 p.m., roughly two hours after Benjamin was escorted out, when CodePink posted a forty-three-second edited video of the day's confrontations. It was shared immediately across the Singham-linked network — a ready-made clip, timed and packaged, moving at the speed of the influence operation the hearing had spent the afternoon trying to describe.
On a Wednesday afternoon in a Capitol Hill hearing room, Medea Benjamin and two fellow CodePink activists walked in wearing T-shirts that bore messages of support for Iran and Cuba. Within thirty minutes, Capitol Police escorted them out. The timing and the shirts were not accidental. The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia had convened to examine what lawmakers called "Trojan Horses: Covert Foreign Malign Influence Operations in America," and Benjamin's entrance—carefully positioned for camera angles, the slogans visible behind the witnesses on the official feed—became a live illustration of the very problem the hearing was meant to investigate.
At the center of the inquiry was Neville Roy Singham, a U.S. technology entrepreneur who has lived in Shanghai for years and, according to reporting presented at the hearing, has funneled $278 million into a network of American nonprofits, media outlets, and activist organizations. The money has flowed to CodePink, which received $1.33 million; to People's Forum, a New York-based hub for communist organizing that took $22.44 million; to BreakThrough News, a media platform that received $1.098 million; and to other groups aligned with far-left and Marxist ideology. Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga, a Michigan Republican, opened the hearing by naming the alleged beneficiaries of foreign influence: China, Cuba, Iran, and Russia. "These countries have one shared goal: to weaken the United States of America," he said, describing Singham as a prominent example of how adversaries use wealth and relationships to channel money to extremist groups.
The witnesses who testified painted a picture of coordinated influence flowing through multiple channels. Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, described what he called a "red-green" alliance—far-left groups working with Islamist organizations—that channels money through intermediary organizations before directing funds to U.S.-based groups that organize protests and produce political messaging. He pointed to BreakThrough News as a platform that amplifies demonstrations and promotes narratives aligned with Beijing, and he cited research showing Singham's connections in Shanghai, including shared premises with a Chinese communications firm and attendance at a Chinese Communist Party strategic communications workshop in 2023. Sam Lyman, head of research at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, presented evidence that Singham-funded groups had echoed Chinese messaging on artificial intelligence, data centers, and U.S. technology policy. Matthew Johnson, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, described the Singham network as an intermediary layer that translates Beijing's themes—anti-imperialism, environmental harm, militarization, inequality—into activist language for American audiences.
Lyman's research identified twenty-one campaigns linked to the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Marxist-Leninist organization, across fourteen states that contributed to data-center moratoriums, permanent bans, and project rejections. He cautioned, however, that opposition to data centers was not entirely manufactured; many Americans held genuine concerns about electricity costs, environmental effects, and local development. The hearing also heard from Donald Sherman, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, who offered a dissenting perspective, criticizing President Trump's acceptance of a plane for Air Force One from Qatar and raising questions about Trump family business dealings abroad.
When Benjamin and her fellow activists were asked to leave, they complied but protested. Democratic Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California objected to their removal, arguing they were simply exercising free speech by wearing T-shirts and had not been disruptive. Outside the hearing room, Benjamin continued performing for cameras, positioning herself beside the committee placard and filming remarks about the day's events. When she spotted Representative Randy Fine, a Florida Republican and strong Israel supporter, exiting the room, she chased after him with questions, her team filming the encounter. After Fine entered an office, Benjamin returned to her spot, combed her hair, and resumed filming.
Neither Singham nor CodePink has been charged with any crime in connection with the allegations. Singham has said he is guided by his own political beliefs. Benjamin has said CodePink receives no money from the Chinese Communist Party and that the organization is anti-war. Yet the hearing's central argument—articulated most directly by Huizenga—was that protest theater, messaging, and social-media content can function as tools of foreign influence. "They're using it not to affect policy, but really to enrich themselves because they use that then to go out on social media, to try to whip other people up, to help donations, to help get volunteers," Huizenga told Fox News Digital. About two hours after being escorted from the hearing, at 4:38 p.m., CodePink posted a carefully edited forty-three-second video of Benjamin standing outside the hearing room and chasing Fine, packaging the day's confrontation into a ready-made social-media clip. Far-left activists from the Singham network quickly shared it.
Citations marquantes
America's adversaries—China, Cuba, Iran, and Russia—are conducting covert influence campaigns to shape American thought and society through lies and censorship.— Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga, R-Mich.
Beijing cannot simply command an American university, company, journalist, think tank or activist. It must gain access and cultivate relationships within institutions that shape perception, expertise and decision-making.— Matthew Johnson, Jamestown Foundation
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