House Panel Examines Foreign 'Trojan Horse' Influence Networks
A House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on covert foreign malign influence operations was disrupted when CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin and two activists were escorted out by Capitol Police after staging a T-shirt demonstration. Lawmakers cited the incident as an example of protest theater tied to foreign-funded networks.
A House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on covert foreign influence operations in the United States was interrupted when CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin and two fellow activists were escorted out by Capitol Police after staging a T-shirt demonstration in the hearing room. The activists entered room 2272 wearing shirts supporting the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Communist Party of Cuba, positioning themselves behind witnesses in seats with maximum television exposure.
About 30 minutes into the hearing, after Benjamin photographed the shirt slogans appearing on the TV screen behind the witnesses, staffers for the Subcommittee on South and Central Asia asked Capitol Police to remove the group. The three were escorted out as they protested their ejection. Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., later told Fox News Digital that the disruption underscored the hearing's central theme. «It's really about theatrics,» Huizenga said. «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, help get some of those other folks, and to really try to go and disrupt our – not just our sense of government and processing government – but society.»
The hearing, titled «Trojan Horses: Covert Foreign Malign Influence Operations in America,» focused on a network of nonprofits, media outlets and activist groups that lawmakers say promote the interests of foreign governments and pro-communist ideologues. Central to the discussion was Neville Roy Singham, a U.S. tech tycoon living in Shanghai who has supported the Chinese Communist Party. According to a Fox News Digital investigation, Singham has directed $278 million into a far-left network that has pushed anti-America, pro-China propaganda. CodePink has received $1.33 million from Singham, while the People's Forum, a hub for pro-communist organizing in New York City, has received $22.44 million. BreakThrough BT Media, which runs BreakThrough News, has received $1.098 million.
Outside the hearing room, Benjamin declined to answer questions about the Singham funding and instead entered the room with the other activists. Once inside, Mike Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation, spotted Benjamin and engaged in a tense exchange. «I'm telling Medea Benjamin that she should try to stop shilling for a communist tyranny,» Gonzalez said. Benjamin defended herself as «anti-war» and denied receiving direction from the Chinese Communist Party.
In his opening remarks, Huizenga named Singham, CodePink and Marxist influencer Hasan Piker as examples of actors tied to U.S. adversaries. «We are here today because America's adversaries – China, Cuba, Iran, and Russia – are conducting covert influence campaigns to shape American thought and society through lies and censorship,» Huizenga said. «These countries have one shared goal: to weaken the United States of America.» He added that Singham «uses his wealth and relationships with the CCP to provide millions of dollars and personnel to extremist groups like CodePink, the People's Forum, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation to destabilize American society and promote communist ideology.»
Gonzalez, the first witness, testified that a «red-green» alliance of far-left groups working with Islamist organizations channels money through intermediary organizations and donor funds before directing it to U.S.-based groups that organize protests and produce political messaging. He described Cuba and China's influence operations as the basis of a «sustained campaign of subversion against the United States.» He pointed to BreakThrough News as a media platform that amplifies demonstrations and promotes narratives aligned with Beijing, noting that its causes — including Gaza, Cuba, Venezuela, the environment and social justice — provide a constantly changing set of rallying points.
Gonzalez also cited research indicating that Singham shares premises with Maku Cultural Communication, a Chinese communications firm that promotes a favorable image of China, and was photographed attending a Chinese Communist Party strategic communications workshop in 2023. He pointed to connections between Singham-funded organizations and Chinese state-linked academic and media institutions. Sam Lyman, head of research at the Bitcoin Policy Institute, also testified, presenting the network as one of three overlapping channels of influence.
Singham and CodePink have denied that the organization takes direction from the Chinese government. Singham has said he is guided by his own political beliefs, while Benjamin has said CodePink receives no money from the Chinese Communist Party. No criminal charges have been filed against Singham or the organizations in connection with the allegations.
