The Republican-led House Ways and Means Committee is done asking nicely. In new letters announced this week, the panel renewed its demands for financial records and other documents from three nonprofits linked to Marxist tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham — and named 21 individuals, including Singham himself, as potential deposition targets if they don't comply by Tuesday, according to Fox News Digital sources.
The three organizations on the receiving end are The People's Forum Inc., a New York City-based activist hub; BreakThrough News, a left-wing nonprofit media outlet sharing a Manhattan address with The People's Forum; and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, a Massachusetts-based Marxist think tank. Roughly $40.3 million flowed into those three groups, according to the committee's investigation.
Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., did not mince words in a statement: "Shanghai Singham has poured millions of dollars into these groups to take advantage of America's nonprofit sector and promote Chinese Communist Party propaganda. That much is public. What these groups are fighting to keep hidden is even more concerning."
The potential witness list breaks down to eight individuals at The People's Forum, seven at BreakThrough News and six at Tricontinental. Among them: People's Forum executive director Manolo De Los Santos, education director Layan Fuleihan and organizing director David Chung; BreakThrough News editor-in-chief Ben Becker, news director Zoe Alexandra and chief correspondent Rania Khalek; Tricontinental executive director Vijay Prashad; and Singham, who is listed as chairman of Tricontinental.
The Fight Over the First Amendment
The organizations have pushed back hard on the probe, arguing that lawmakers are targeting their political views and First Amendment-protected activities. That defense is now colliding with a Tuesday deadline and a committee that has made clear the alternative to producing documents is a seat at a witness table under oath.
The investigation's core question is whether millions of dollars routed through Singham-linked tax-exempt groups were used to advance Chinese Communist Party interests inside the United States. The committee has not released the underlying financial records it is seeking, and no court has ruled on the nonprofits' objections. What is established is the money trail the panel cites and the identities of the people it wants to question.
The story has been building on social media as well. An Instagram post referencing Singham describes him as a China-based U.S. tycoon funding such operations, while another post states that Singham will now be under investigation — a sign the committee's escalation is reaching the audiences these groups court.
Why It Matters for Everyday Americans
Tax-exempt status is a privilege, not a shield. If foreign money is being funneled through American nonprofits to amplify CCP propaganda, that is a national security question dressed up as a charity — and Congress has jurisdiction over the tax code that makes it possible. The committee's move puts the burden on these groups to show their books or explain themselves on the record.
For Singham, the significance is personal: being named a potential deposition target means the committee is prepared to put him under oath, not just his subordinates. For the nonprofits, Tuesday is the line between a document production and a public hearing.
Fox News Politics first reported the letters and the list of potential targets. The committee has not indicated when depositions would begin if the deadline is missed, and it is not yet known whether the organizations will seek a court order to block the subpoenas.
Our Take
Here's the tell: The People's Forum, BreakThrough News and Tricontinental are not being asked about their opinions. They are being asked for their bank records. If the $40.3 million came from American donors with no foreign strings, produce the paperwork and end the story in an afternoon. The fact that they are instead arguing about the First Amendment — and running to social media to frame this as persecution — tells you everything about what those records would show.
Jason Smith's committee has given them a fair off-ramp: comply by Tuesday. If they don't, Chairman Smith should make good on the threat and put Singham and his network under oath. Patriots should be watching whether the House follows through — and whether the legacy media, which spent years chasing phantom Trump-Russia collusion, can muster even a fraction of that energy for actual Chinese money moving through American nonprofits.
