In a House committee room meant to examine foreign influence on American political life, the ancient tension between open discourse and covert subversion played out in vivid miniature — activists in foreign-government insignia were removed from a hearing, while lawmakers pressed a deeper question: when a genuine belief is amplified by foreign money, where does authentic speech end and manipulation begin? At the center of the inquiry is a $285 million web of nonprofits allegedly tied to an American entrepreneur living in Shanghai, now under grand jury scrutiny. The episode reminds us that democ
House lawmakers warn of 'Trojan horse' activist networks allegedly serving foreign interests
Transparency is the watchword. We need to know who's behind it.
Mark
So what exactly happened at this hearing? It sounds like there was a disruption.
Mimi
Three CodePink activists came in wearing T-shirts with Iranian and Cuban symbols and positioned themselves behind the witnesses so the committee cameras would capture the shirts. About thirty minutes in, the chairman had Capitol Police escort them out.
Mark
And the lawmakers think this was coordinated?
Mimi
Huizenga said it was theater—that people in the crowd were filming with their phones, ready to capture it. The activists then posted an edited video on social media afterward.
Luke
But we should note: there's no evidence presented that CodePink was taking orders from any foreign government. Both Singham and Benjamin denied that.
Mark
What's the actual concern then? That foreign money is funding American activist groups?
Mimi
Yes. Singham, an American living in Shanghai, has transferred $285 million to six nonprofits including CodePink. The Justice Department is investigating allegations of money laundering and fraud.
Luke
Right, but no charges have been filed. And Singham says the money reflects his own political beliefs, not direction from Beijing.
Mark
So the lawmakers want more transparency about who funds these groups?
Mimi
Exactly. They're calling for FARA compliance—requiring organizations that act on behalf of foreign interests to register with the Justice Department. They want Americans to know who's financing political messaging.
Luke
That's a legitimate concern. But there's a real tension here between exposing foreign influence and protecting American political speech. How do you distinguish between a communist American funding causes he believes in and a foreign government using him as a proxy?
Mark
Is there evidence he's being used as a proxy?
Luke
Not that's been presented in the hearing. The investigation is ongoing. The grand jury is looking at money laundering and fraud, not necessarily at whether Singham is a Chinese agent.
Mimi
Huizenga's point is that the funding relationships themselves deserve scrutiny, regardless of intent. He said the origins of these movements "aren't organic."
Mark
What does that mean?
Mimi
That these activist networks aren't grassroots—they're being fed by outside money, sometimes from outside countries. Lawmakers want Americans to see the money trail.
Luke
But again, we should be careful. Singham is American. He has the right to fund causes. The question is whether he's doing it as a foreign agent or as an American with his own beliefs. That's what the investigation needs to determine.
The Pulse
- Three CodePink activists staged a calculated visual disruption inside a congressional hearing on foreign influence, positioning themselves to broadcast pro-Iran and pro-Cuba imagery directly into the committee's official cameras.
- The stunt forced Capitol Police to intervene mid-hearing, but the real alarm was what lawmakers described as a $285 million funding network linking American activist groups to a tech entrepreneur residing in Shanghai — now the subject of a federal grand jury.
- The Justice Department and the Southern District of New York are investigating allegations of money laundering, bank fraud, and wire fraud connected to Neville Roy Singham and the organizations he funded, though no charges have been filed.
- Lawmakers are divided on remedy: some frame the problem as 'cognitive warfare' waged through influencers and protests, while others argue the answer is not suppression but sunlight — forcing foreign-linked funding into the open through FARA compliance.
- The hearing itself became a case study in the very dynamic it sought to expose: within two hours, CodePink had posted a polished video of the day's events across its network, turning a congressional removal into fundraising and recruitment content.
In a House committee room meant to examine foreign influence on American political life, the ancient tension between open discourse and covert subversion played out in vivid miniature — activists in foreign-government insignia were removed from a hearing, while lawmakers pressed a deeper question: when a genuine belief is amplified by foreign money, where does authentic speech end and manipulation begin? At the center of the inquiry is a $285 million web of nonprofits allegedly tied to an American entrepreneur living in Shanghai, now under grand jury scrutiny. The episode reminds us that democracies are most vulnerable not at their walls, but at the gates they willingly open.
On a Tuesday morning in a House committee room, three CodePink activists entered wearing shirts bearing Iranian and Cuban government symbols, positioning themselves behind witnesses so the committee's cameras would capture the imagery. About thirty minutes into a hearing titled 'Trojan Horses: Covert Foreign Malign Influence Operations in America,' Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga halted the proceedings and had Capitol Police escort them out. The moment distilled a question that would define the entire session: how does a democracy distinguish genuine domestic dissent from speech that foreign adversaries are quietly funding and amplifying?
At the center of the investigation is Neville Roy Singham, an American-born tech entrepreneur living in Shanghai who has transferred $285 million to six nonprofits, including CodePink and the People's Forum. A Fox News investigation found that Singham married CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans in 2017, shortly before the transfers began. The Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York have convened a grand jury examining allegations of money laundering, bank fraud, and wire fraud connected to Singham and the funded organizations. No criminal charges have been filed, and both Singham and CodePink deny taking direction from foreign governments.
Huizenga described the modern Trojan horse not as a physical object but as a network of American-seeming voices — activists, nonprofits, influencers — that foreign-linked actors can fund or exploit to carry their messages inside the gates of domestic political debate. He was careful to note that individuals can hold sincere beliefs while those same beliefs are simultaneously amplified by foreign money without their knowledge. After being removed, CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin continued filming in the hallway, following a congressman while recording questions at him. Within two hours, a polished video of the day's events was circulating across the group's social media network. Huizenga called the entire sequence planned theater designed to generate content, donations, and recruits.
Other committee members framed the threat in broader terms. Representative Randy Fine described social media and protest as channels for 'cognitive warfare' — using information to create division from within. Representative Michael Baumgartner called for transparency so Americans could trace who finances political messaging and why. Representative Darrell Issa pointed to artificial intelligence as another front, arguing that foreign adversaries benefit when domestic political pressure slows American technological development.
The lawmakers' proposed remedy was not censorship but disclosure. Baumgartner pointed to the Foreign Agent Registration Act, which requires those acting on behalf of foreign interests to register with the Justice Department, suggesting that organizations failing to comply could be referred for investigation. Huizenga returned repeatedly to a single word: transparency. 'We really need to make sure that people know not only the why, but the who is behind all this,' he said — arguing that the lesson of the Trojan horse is not to bar all horses at the gate, but to understand what, and who, might be hidden inside.
On a Tuesday morning in a House committee room, three activists from CodePink walked in wearing T-shirts bearing symbols of the Iranian and Cuban governments. They positioned themselves directly behind the witnesses testifying about foreign influence operations in America, angling their bodies so the committee's official cameras would capture the shirts. About half an hour into the hearing on what lawmakers called "Trojan Horses: Covert Foreign Malign Influence Operations in America," South and Central Asia Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga stopped the proceedings and had Capitol Police remove them. The moment crystallized a debate that consumed the House Foreign Affairs Committee: how to identify and counter foreign influence campaigns without criminalizing legitimate American political speech.
The hearing centered on a network of activist groups, nonprofits, and social media figures that House members alleged were amplifying messages favorable to China, Russia, Iran, and Cuba—sometimes knowingly, sometimes not. At the heart of the investigation was Neville Roy Singham, an American-born tech entrepreneur living in Shanghai who has transferred $285 million to six nonprofits over recent years, including CodePink, the People's Forum, and others. According to a Fox News investigation, Singham married CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans in Jamaica in 2017, shortly before beginning these transfers. The Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York have convened a grand jury to investigate allegations of money laundering, bank fraud, and wire fraud connected to Singham and the organizations he funded. No criminal charges have been filed against Singham or CodePink.
Huizenga described the modern "Trojan horse" not as a wooden structure but as a network of ostensibly American voices—activists, nonprofits, influencers—that foreign governments or foreign-linked actors can fund, amplify, or exploit to carry their messages into American political discourse. "They're coming in, trying to look like one thing, but we know that once they're inside the gates that those doors are going to spring open and there's a whole other motivation for what they're trying to do," he told Fox News Digital. He stressed that Americans can hold sincere beliefs while those same messages are simultaneously funded or amplified by foreign actors without their knowledge. Singham and CodePink have both denied taking direction from foreign governments. Singham has said his activities reflect his own political beliefs, while Benjamin stated that CodePink does not receive money from the Chinese Communist Party.
The confrontation in the hearing room illustrated the central tension lawmakers grappled with. After being escorted out, CodePink activists continued their activities outside the committee room. Medea Benjamin, the co-founder, positioned herself beside the House Foreign Affairs Committee placard and recorded video, combing her hair before filming. When Representative Randy Fine emerged from the hearing, Benjamin followed him down the hallway, recording as she fired questions at him. About two hours after Capitol Police removed the activists, CodePink posted a carefully edited video of the day's events on social media, where it was shared across their broader network. Huizenga characterized the entire sequence as political theater designed to generate content for social media circulation, attract donations, and recruit volunteers. "This isn't about discourse. This is about disruption," he said. "It's all planned out. You see people in the crowd filming with their phones, getting ready."
Other committee members offered their own framings of the threat. Representative Michael Baumgartner of Washington noted that America's open political system creates opportunities for foreign governments to influence domestic debates through social media, universities, and other institutions. He called for transparency so Americans could understand who finances political messaging and what their motivations are. Representative Randy Fine of Florida described social media, influencers, and protests as channels through which foreign governments destabilize American political debate, characterizing it as "cognitive warfare"—using information platforms to create division from within. Representative Darrell Issa of California pointed to artificial intelligence as another battlefield, arguing that foreign adversaries benefit when American political pressure slows U.S. technological development.
Huizenga emphasized that the organizations under examination should be viewed not individually but as a network. "It's a network. It's not independent organizations or even people," he said. "You will see some of the same people at different organizations, rallies, or protests." He alleged that Singham uses his wealth and relationships in China to support organizations promoting communist ideology and destabilizing American society. In his official opening remarks, Huizenga explicitly described Singham, CodePink, and the broader network of pro-communist, pro-China groups as "Trojan horses."
The lawmakers' proposed solution centered on a single word: transparency. Huizenga repeatedly stressed that Americans need to understand not just what political messages are being promoted, but who is financing them and what their motivations are. Baumgartner pointed to the Foreign Agent Registration Act, or FARA, which requires people and organizations acting on behalf of foreign interests to register with the Justice Department. He suggested that if evidence showed organizations were acting on behalf of foreign governments without complying with applicable disclosure laws, the matter could be referred to the Justice Department for investigation. The lesson lawmakers drew from the ancient Greek story of the Trojan horse was not simply to keep the horse outside the gates, but to understand what—and who—might be inside. As Huizenga put it: "Transparency, transparency is the watchword. We really need to make sure that people know not only the why, but the who is behind all this."
Notable Quotes
They're coming in, trying to look like one thing, but we know that once they're inside the gates that those doors are going to spring open and there's a whole other motivation for what they're trying to do.— Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich.
Singham and CodePink have both denied taking direction from foreign governments, with Singham saying his activities reflect his own political beliefs and Benjamin stating CodePink does not receive money from the Chinese Communist Party.— Singham and Medea Benjamin, CodePink co-founder
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