FOR IMMEDIATE RESPONSE
Feb. 10, 2026
Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected]
CODEPINK Statement on Ways and Means Hypocritical Hearing: Foreign Influence in American Non-profits: Unmasking Threats from Beijing and Beyond
Today's hearing by the Ways and Means Committee was not a legitimate hearing, but rather a politically orchestrated attack on the First Amendment. In a blatant display of hypocrisy, the Committee attempted to discredit CODEPINK and a broad range of respected organizations, from Indivisible and Breakthrough News to The People's Forum and even the Future Farmers of America, with unproven accusations. The Committee showcased testimonies from biased, politically driven witnesses who themselves seem to operate in the shadows - some who, when asked on record, said they would refuse to disclose their own donors.
As we have stated repeatedly, CODEPINK receives no money from China or any foreign governments or political parties. CODEPINK is funded by thousands of individual donors as well as through administrative grants for non-profits. We have routinely passed every audit, unlike the Pentagon. CODEPINK has no contact with the Chinese Communist Party, nor is any of our work done at the direction of any foreign government or entity.
As Committee Democrats rightly highlighted, grassroots non-profits like ours wield no "political leverage" in the halls of power. Their Republican counterparts who sat in the hearing willfully ignored the true threat: the elected officials who are routinely influenced and bankrolled by foreign interests to enact policies that harm everyday people. While people across the United States struggle make ends meet, their elected officials are taking all-expenses-paid trips to Israel, where Israeli officials lobby for more U.S. support for the genocide in Gaza.
The purpose of today’s hearing is clear. The Trump administration's agenda is wildly unpopular and does not represent the will of the majority of people in the United States. In a reactionary state of panic, they have resorted to McCarthyite tactics and are attempting to smear and discredit organizations that are actually amplifying the real voice of the people. Today was not about security but rather about silencing those who speak out about the abuses committed by their government against its citizens and people across the world.
War, violence, and hate are not popular political positions, and CODEPINK will continue to educate, activate, and uplift the millions of people in this country who desperately want a more peaceful world - one where we fund healthcare, education, housing, and a just transition instead of death and destruction across the globe.
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