House lawmakers are turning their attention to foreign influence operations inside the United States, launching a hearing to scrutinize how domestic activists, nonprofits, media projects and influencers may be amplifying the interests of China, Iran and Cuba.
The hearing, scheduled for Tuesday and titled “Trojan Horses: Covert Foreign Malign Influence Operations in America,” follows a high-profile disruption last week at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. During a panel on the national security threat posed by Cuba, a protester identified as Olivia DiNucci, a D.C.-based organizer with CodePink, stood and shouted while holding a banner reading “SANCTIONS KILL IN CUBA” before being escorted out.
House hearing targets covert foreign influence operations
Christine Balling, a former advisor to U.S. Special Operations Command South who led the discussion, and Michael Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation and Cuban American critic of Havana’s communist government, said the incident underscored their concerns. Balling described CodePink and similar groups as disruptive and divisive, arguing they seek to weaken the United States by sowing internal friction. She added that such tactics are designed to generate viral clips rather than foster dialogue.
Rep. Bill Huizenga of Michigan, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on South and Central Asia, said the panel aims to expose how adversarial governments leverage American messengers. He cited social media personalities, including streamer Hasan Piker, as examples of influencers used to push propaganda favorable to foreign regimes. Piker joined a CodePink delegation to Cuba earlier this year, drawing scrutiny from the Treasury Department alongside CodePink co-founders Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin. The organizations involved have denied wrongdoing.
The inquiry integrates multiple threads of reported foreign influence, including financial networks, political organizing and media efforts that connect socialist and communist-aligned groups with Islamist organizations. At the center of the largest funding web is Neville Roy Singham, an American-born tech executive living in Shanghai, who has publicly backed the Chinese Communist Party and China’s leadership.
An investigative analysis published earlier this year reviewed 223 transactions totaling $591 million across five continents between 2017 and 2025, mapping funds across a network estimated at roughly 2,000 entities. The review documented $278 million flowing from Singham to six core nonprofits beginning in 2017: BreakThrough BT Media Inc., CodePink Women for Peace, Justice and Education Fund Inc., People’s Forum Inc., People’s Support Foundation Ltd., and Tricontinental Ltd. Executives involved have rejected allegations of misconduct and characterized investigations as politically motivated. Singham has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
According to the financial breakdown, the six nonprofits received:
- $167.5 million to People’s Support Foundation Ltd., based in Chicago, with Jodie Evans on the board, channeling money to overseas projects.
- $68.7 million to Justice and Education Fund Inc., a New York nonprofit that issues grants to far-left causes domestically and abroad.
- $22.44 million to the People’s Forum in New York City, a hub for pro-communist organizing.
- $16.76 million to Tricontinental Ltd., a Massachusetts think tank led by Vijay Prashad, a friend of Singham’s.
- $1.33 million to CodePink, a California-based group supportive of Cuba and China that has backed campaigns favorable to Iran and against Israel.
- $1.098 million to BreakThrough BT Media, which operates BreakThrough News and promotes protest content.
Those organizations then distributed approximately $163 million to 52 groups and five geographic regions, based on financial records. A further set of 11 groups moved about $150 million to four nonprofits and five regions, including $23 million directed to Sub-Saharan Africa.
Back in Washington, Balling said the CodePink disruption at the Cuba panel neatly illustrated the panel’s thesis. She said the group operates to create moments for social media, not respectful debate. Less than an hour after the event ended, CodePink posted a curated video of the incident on X and later on YouTube and Instagram, tagging DiNucci and circulating a press release offering unbranded footage.
Balling argued the group’s messaging advances the interests of the Chinese Communist Party and Cuba. She also noted links between CodePink and the Democratic Socialists of America through participation in the National Network on Cuba, which supports the island’s regime.
Huizenga and witnesses say Congress must determine how hostile governments may be shaping U.S. discourse through domestic proxies while keeping foreign principals at a distance. The hearing is intended to “raise the curtain” on those operations and examine potential vulnerabilities in U.S. civil society and information ecosystems. For more on how Cuban politics intersect with U.S. debates, see Cuban dissidents see Trump as best path, seek bigger role.
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