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Subpoenas target BreakThrough
The House Ways and Means Committee issued subpoenas to BreakThrough News and two other nonprofits, The People’s Forum and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, as part of an investigation tied to more than $39 million that flowed from Neville Roy Singham, a U.S. citizen and tech financier based in Shanghai, to the groups.
The Intercept says the committee’s action is a “tax-related probe” into whether the organizations advance Chinese Communist Party-aligned interests, and it notes that the government withdrew a separate set of legal orders the same day BreakThrough announced its receipt of them.
The Intercept also quotes BreakThrough’s attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard calling the committee “a modern day HUAC,” while the outlet says BreakThrough’s editor-in-chief Ben Becker argued that “The First Amendment was specifically written to protect journalism that the government does not approve of.”
CiberCuba reports that the Committee on Media and Resources of the U.S. House of Representatives issued subpoenas against The People’s Forum, BreakThrough News, and Tricontinental, and it says the committee is investigating whether the nonprofits operate as foreign influence tools linked to the Chinese Communist Party and whether the more than $39 million was channeled to hide its real origin.
HUAC claims and First Amendment
BreakThrough News and its allies frame the subpoenas as retaliation against journalism and organizing, with The Intercept quoting Mara Verheyden-Hilliard describing the committee as “a modern day HUAC,” and quoting Ben Becker on the First Amendment’s purpose.
The Intercept also includes Chip Gibbons, policy director at Defending Rights & Dissent, saying, “Attacks on independent, alternative, or radical media have troubling history,” and it adds that he described the pattern as “It is always the I.F. Stones or the WikiLeaks who are first on the firing line.”
CiberCuba says the three organizations rejected the subpoenas arguing they violate the First Amendment, lack a valid legislative purpose, and improperly invoke the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), while it reports that Smith accused the organizations of distorting the scope and purpose of the committee’s oversight.
Cubanos por el Mundo says the letters accused the three entities of not providing “a single relevant document” in response to initial information requests, and it reports that the subpoenas were dated July 21 and sent to The People’s Forum, the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, and Break Through News.
Deadline and broader crackdown
CiberCuba says all required documentation must be submitted by August 7, including foreign funding records, international contracts, communications with Singham, donors of more than $5,000, and overseas grants, as the committee seeks to determine whether the funds concealed their origin.
The Intercept says the Ways and Means Committee is claiming its investigation is a tax-related probe into more than $39 million that flowed from Neville Roy Singham to the groups, and it argues that “fishing expedition” logic is unclear given the committee letter’s focus on BreakThrough’s critical coverage of ICE and Israel and its connections to the PSL.
The Intercept also quotes BreakThrough’s chief correspondent Rania Khalek saying, “I think this is really just about trying to bury us in legal proceedings until we’ve basically run out of money or stop reporting out of intimidation,” while it points to a broader pattern it links to Rodrigo Duterte’s government filing tax evasion cases against Rappler.
CiberCuba adds that the subpoenas are part of a broader congressional and Trump administration offensive, and it says the Department of Justice and the Treasury are investigating more than 145 pro-Cuba organizations with combined revenues of around $1 billion per year for possible violations of the FARA.
