Far-left nonprofits in the hot seat as lawmaker exposes them for 'sowing chaos' in US

FIRST ON FOX: Hours before banging the gavel to commence a hearing Tuesday to investigate the dynamic of "malign foreign influence," House Committee on Ways and Means chair Jason Smith escalated his investigation into the China-based, American-born Marxist tech tycoon, Neville Roy Singham, who has allegedly been "sowing chaos and spreading Chinese propaganda, possibly in coordination with a foreign government."

Fox News Digital has obtained copies of letters that Smith sent on Monday night to two U.S. nonprofits – BreakThrough BT Media Inc. and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research – demanding records of their ties to Singham and alleging they are promoting propaganda aligned with the Chinese Communist Party.

At 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Smith will chair a hearing called, "Foreign Influence in American Non-profits: Unmasking Threats from Beijing and Beyond." The hearing will be broadcast online at the committee’s website. Singham, Tricontinental and BreakThrough BT Media, which publishes articles as "BreakThrough News," didn't respond to requests for comment.

Congressional investigators say the Singham network sits at the center of a malign foreign influence operation that allegedly exploits U.S. nonprofit laws to inject anti-American propaganda into domestic protest movements and sow discord from within the United States.

In separate letters, Smith demanded records from BreakThrough and Tricontinental, warning that both tax-exempt organizations may be operating outside their lawful purpose as possible unregistered foreign agents, while helping to fuel domestic unrest under the guise of journalism and academic research.

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The letters describe a full-spectrum operation, with funding aligned with foreign interests flowing into tax-exempt nonprofits that produce ideological research, media narratives and social media messaging, which are then deployed onto U.S. streets through tightly choreographed protests.

Over the past year, Fox News Digital has documented a pattern of coordinated protests by socialist, communist and Marxist groups, revealing a synchronized ecosystem of funding, media amplification, ideological framing and street-level mobilization that aligns with the strategic interests of hostile foreign governments, including the People’s Republic of China.

"Tax-exempt status is a privilege not a right," Smith told Fox News Digital. "Nonprofits must remain accountable and refuse to act as instruments of hostile foreign governments."

The Ways and Means Committee "continues to investigate how foreign money and foreign-linked networks are funneled through tax-exempt entities to sow discord and unrest in our society," he said. "That’s why we’re demanding answers from Tricontinental and BreakThrough about their funding streams, activities and communications with CCP-linked individuals, including Neville Roy Singham."

"If the evidence shows these groups are acting as conduits for CCP-aligned propaganda or functioning like foreign agents while enjoying U.S. tax benefits, their tax-exempt status should be revoked immediately," Smith said. "We’re going to follow the money and demand accountability to put a stop to Beijing’s exploitation of our tax-exempt sector."

In his letter to Karla Reyes, chair and director of BreakThrough, Smith wrote that he was "disturbed by the connections between BreakThrough and Chinese Communist Party linked organizations" and launched an inquiry into whether the outlet deserves its 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

Smith emphasized that the investigation is not about suppressing speech but about whether nonprofit protections are being abused. He wrote that, under federal law, "if more than an insubstantial part of an organization’s activities is not in furtherance of a tax-exempt purpose…the organization is not operated exclusively for such exempt purpose." He cited Supreme Court precedent stating that "the presence of a single nonexempt purpose, if substantial in nature, will destroy the exemption regardless of the number or importance of truly exempt purposes."

In the letter, Smith warned that receiving funding from "an individual who lives in Shanghai, maintains business ties with companies and individuals linked to the CCP, works with and physically alongside a foreign propaganda company, and attends CCP forums on how to promote the party abroad" raises "serious questions" about whether BreakThrough qualifies as an "agent of a foreign principal" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

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Since its inception, he noted that BreakThrough has produced and distributed content that "aligns with pro-CCP rhetoric across both the United States and the globe." Following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, Smith wrote that BreakThrough News "dramatically shifted their coverage in a way that suggests its intent on sowing division within the United States," while portraying China in an "overwhelmingly positive light."

As reported, BreakThrough was one of the first social media accounts to publish the video of the killing of anti-ICE demonstrator Alex Pretti.

The investigation places BreakThrough within a broader network that includes Tricontinental, the People’s Forum, the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the ANSWER Coalition, groups that Fox News Digital has documented working alongside organizations such as the Democratic Socialists of America to mobilize protests, train "rapid responders" and flood social media with coordinated narratives during flashpoint events, from immigration enforcement actions to the arrest of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro.

BreakThrough was also one of the first social media accounts to publish video of the U.S. strike over Caracas when Maduro was arrested.

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In his letter to Vijay Prashad, executive director of Tricontinental, Smith said that he was "disturbed by the connections between yourself, Tricontinental and organizations linked to the CCP." He described Tricontinental as an organization that has been "responsible for spreading Marxist and anti-American rhetoric across both the United States and the globe," and possibly "sowing chaos and spreading Chinese propaganda, possibly in coordination with a foreign government."

Committee investigators tied Prashad directly to Chinese state-linked institutions, noting his role as a senior fellow at a think tank connected to China’s Ministry of Education and his participation in conferences hosted by universities funded by the Chinese Communist Party. He also detailed Tricontinental’s financial relationship with Maku Group, a Chinese media company whose stated mission is to "tell China’s story well," and disclosed that Tricontinental paid the firm more than $2.1 million for "research, analysis, and translation services."

The committee also documented Tricontinental’s deep financial and structural ties to Singham, noting that the organization received millions of dollars from entities linked to him, employs his son as a researcher and lists Singham as chair of its international advisory board. Multiple reports, Smith wrote, have found that Tricontinental is "part of Mr. Singham’s network of non-profit organizations that serve as his conduits to spread pro-CCP narratives," including media outlets where Prashad appears regularly.

Researchers say the nonprofits under scrutiny engage in a dynamic known as "narrative convergence," echoing the propaganda of foreign adversaries. In a new report, the Network Contagion Research Institute, based in Princeton, N.J., documented how the Democratic Socialists of America sent delegations to China, Cuba and Venezuela and then, upon returning to the United States, deployed slogans at protests that mirror the anti-U.S. rhetoric of those governments.

The institute concluded that the Democratic Socialists of America "exhibits multiple indicators" warranting scrutiny as a foreign lobbyist. Democratic Socialists of America didn't return a request for comment.

Smith echoed those concerns in his Tricontinental letter, warning that the People’s Forum and allied groups "continued to organize protests aligned with Chinese talking points," including demonstrations that "turned violent in Minnesota."

National security analysts say the hearing represents a critical moment in what they describe as a new cognitive war, in which foreign adversaries seek to weaponize outrage, protest and information to weaken the United States from within.