WASHINGTON — CodePink activists and allied groups spent Veterans Day lobbying lawmakers on Capitol Hill, urging cuts to military spending and an end to U.S. military support for Israel. During the event, several activists who have publicly confronted officials declined to answer a reporter’s questions and repeatedly tried to block a camera.
The groups included CodePink, BreakThrough News, the People’s Forum and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. They are part of a network associated with tech investor Neville Roy Singham, who has provided funding to several organizations involved in the event.
CodePink members, often identifiable by their bright pink shirts, have used a tactic known as “bird-dogging” to challenge public officials with pointed questions and then share the exchanges online. On Wednesday, as a reporter followed the activists through the Capitol complex for several hours, some objected to being filmed, covered the camera with scarves and bags, or responded with accusations and personal criticism.
The morning began shortly before 10 a.m. at a breakfast gathering of the House Bagel Caucus in the Rayburn House Office Building. Activists in pink shirts and keffiyehs approached Rep. Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat, and asked about a provision in the annual defense authorization bill. CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin described the measure as bringing the U.S. and Israeli militaries together.
Goldman rejected that description, saying the provision concerned cooperation on technology that both countries rely on and that he viewed as important to U.S. security. He then asked the activists whether they supported Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hamas and Hezbollah. Benjamin replied that the United States was funding Israel, not those groups.
Goldman called conditions in Gaza “absolutely horrific” and said he wished Hamas would permit aid Israel was trying to deliver. The activists groaned. Tighe Barry, Benjamin’s husband and a CodePink activist, challenged Goldman’s remarks, calling them a lie and saying he was offended by them.
Goldman ended the exchange by saying he was attending the Bagel Caucus and thanking the activists before walking away.
Benjamin later moved through the building wearing a backpack patterned like a keffiyeh, a scarf widely associated with the pro-Palestinian movement. At about 10:06 a.m., the group reached the Rayburn cafeteria, where organizers had arranged tables for the lobbying groups. Signs on the tables read “Taxpayer Uprising” and “War Is Not Green.”
When a reporter approached, a CodePink volunteer said the reporter should leave. Barry declined an interview, asking why he would agree to one. At the check-in table, a woman asked that the camera be moved. Other activists used a keffiyeh, a hand and a pink backpack decorated with watermelon designs to block its view. The watermelon has become another symbol used in the Palestinian movement.
A young activist wearing a keffiyeh and a name tag reading “Finn” stood in front of the camera and moved as it tried to get around him. He mocked the reporter for walking around the building. CodePink media contact Melissa Garriga also declined to answer questions. When asked about Singham’s financial support for the group, she waved at the camera and said she did not have to respond. Soon afterward, she covered the lens with her hand and told the reporter to go away.
The activist wearing the “Finn” name tag returned with a jacket, a tote bag and a keffiyeh, using each in turn to obstruct the camera. Another woman waved her hands in front of it.
Shortly after 10:20 a.m., CodePink co-founders Jodie Evans and Benjamin addressed the gathering. Evans married Singham in 2017, the year he sold his company, Thoughtworks, in a deal estimated at $785 million. He later directed a portion of his wealth to a network of nonprofit organizations that have promoted pro-China and communist positions, according to reporting on the groups.
Evans told the activists they were about to begin their program. Benjamin encouraged them to approach lawmakers in the hallways, reminding them that elected officials are public servants. She also offered tips for recognizing members of Congress, saying they often wear lapel pins and carry little because staff members typically handle their papers and other materials. If challenged, she said, a lawmaker might simply deny being a member of Congress.
Singham has denied taking direction from the Chinese government. Evans was the only person in the group who responded calmly to questions about whether he would give an interview. She smiled and said he was shy.
The activists’ lobbying demands included reducing the defense budget, withdrawing U.S. troops and ending American military ties with Israel. These positions are consistent with aspects of China’s foreign policy, though the groups have described their work as advocacy for peace and taxpayers.
Rania Khalek, a host at BreakThrough News, declined to discuss the organization’s funding from Singham. As she filmed the reporter on her phone, another activist moved in front of the camera. Khalek asked whether the reporter was harassing the group, then answered that the reporter was.
A woman standing with Khalek responded with a smile when asked whether she belonged to the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The woman has led demonstrations by the party at the White House and is a member of the organization. A few minutes later, activists crowded in front of the camera, while one pushed a cafeteria chair into the reporter’s path.
The group later visited offices on the second floor of Rayburn, including that of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat. Capitol Police officers were stationed outside, and a sign on the door said the office had been cleared. The activists met with a staff member rather than Jeffries.
Benjamin then recorded a video outside the office, presenting the visit as a forceful encounter with the minority leader. Later, near the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Khalek angrily criticized the reporter for asking questions about the groups’ activities while journalists in Gaza were being killed. She said she was doing journalism herself and held up her phone as evidence.
Asked whether activists connected to Singham’s network should disrupt congressional hearings, Khalek responded by asking whether it was acceptable to fund genocide. She walked away and soon called the reporter a “genocide apologist.” Another activist joined in, accusing the reporter of being shameless and a disgrace to the profession.
The exchange was filmed by a Party for Socialism and Liberation activist. BreakThrough News later shared footage on social media, quoting Khalek as saying, “Stop justifying bombing my country!” One person who commented praised the confrontation as “psychic militancy.” Khalek later resumed approaching lawmakers.
At about 11:25 a.m., a CodePink activist draped a keffiyeh over the camera and then followed the reporter, lifting it in front of the lens again. Olivia DiNucci, CodePink’s Washington coordinator, also confronted the reporter. DiNucci, who has previously heckled public officials and written about her arrests and disruptions at Congress, wore a jacket calling for an end to arms shipments to Israel.
She said the group did not want to speak with the reporter because, in her view, the reporter was complicit in genocide. She added that the activists were not interested in speaking with people they believed supported the killing of babies.
At 11:34 a.m., Benjamin, Khalek and the Party for Socialism and Liberation activist approached a congressman walking past a sign for the Rayburn building and pressed him about their demands. He called their claims propaganda.
By 3:28 p.m., as the lobbying day ended, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, spoke to reporters near the Capitol steps. The activists stood behind police barriers holding signs that read “Welcome to DC / Let’s End War” and “Healthcare Not Warfare.”
Scalise said some demonstrators sought attention by shouting and making noise, and argued that their views were hostile to the principles on which the country was founded. He criticized them for protesting on Veterans Day, saying Americans should appreciate the country and its role, alongside its allies, in defeating the Nazis and opposing fascism. He also said that following the money behind groups critical of the United States could reveal a great deal about them.
Tax filings show Singham gave $1.098 million to BT Media Inc., associated with BreakThrough News; $1.33 million to CodePink; and $22.44 million to the People’s Forum.
CodePink identified 56 organizations as participants in the Taxpayer Uprising. Their combined annual revenue was estimated at about $40 million. The coalition included the Council on American-Islamic Relations, American Muslims for Palestine, the Democratic Socialists of America’s International Committee and the Communist Party USA, which describes itself as guided by Marxism-Leninism. Other participants included Friends of Socialist China, which says it supports China and seeks to promote understanding of Chinese socialism, and the Qiao Collective, which describes itself as committed to socialist internationalism.
Several organizations in the coalition report multimillion-dollar revenues. The Council on American-Islamic Relations Foundation reported $9.4 million, the People’s Forum $7.1 million, the Institute for Policy Studies $5.7 million, Nonviolence International $3.7 million and Global Exchange $3 million. The AJP Educational Foundation, associated with American Muslims for Palestine, reported $2.1 million. CodePink reported $1.8 million and BreakThrough $1.5 million.
A search of the Justice Department’s foreign-agent database found no registration for the groups involved. Last year, Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, raised concerns about CodePink’s pro-China lobbying. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has urged the Justice Department to examine Chinese Communist Party information efforts carried out through nonprofits. The House Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Rep. Jason Smith, a Missouri Republican, has also issued subpoenas to the People’s Forum, BreakThrough News and the Tricontinental Institute, alleging links to a Chinese Communist Party propaganda operation.
That night, CodePink posted a video of Benjamin outside Jeffries’ office. Its caption said the group had “packed the office” of the House Democratic leader.
