Singham-Linked Nonprofits Reject House Ways and Means Ultimatum as Panel Threatens to Depose Their Staff

Two nonprofits tied to tech entrepreneur Neville Roy Singham have refused a House Ways and Means Committee demand to turn over financial records, accusing the Republican-led panel of using a foreign-influence investigation to target their political views.

The People's Forum, a New York City activist center, and BreakThrough News, a nonprofit media outlet, answered the committee in letters from their lawyers on Tuesday, Oct. 20, the deadline the committee had set, Fox News Digital reported. The committee has warned that their leaders, and Singham himself, could be called to testify under oath.

What the Groups Told Ways and Means

In its response, posted by Fox News Digital, BreakThrough News' lawyer said the committee's Oct. 6 letter threatened to subpoena seven named members of the outlet's editorial and administrative staff for depositions unless it dropped its First Amendment objections. "This approach is tantamount to holding the staff of BreakThrough News hostage," the letter says.

The letter also says the committee "flatly refused" to confirm that it will not try to compel information about the outlet's editorial judgments, reporting, donors or other material the outlet considers protected by the First Amendment.

The People's Forum said in an Oct. 21 statement that the committee had threatened to "drag eight of our staff members to Washington for depositions." It called the demand "an escalation of the same MAGA-led witch-hunt." Its lawyers wrote that letting a congressional committee "haul political activists and organizers into deposition rooms" to question them about their views "sets a dangerous precedent of state-sponsored intimidation," according to the group.

Both organizations said they remain open to narrower requests, according to Fox News Digital. The lawyers for BreakThrough News also wrote that "Mr. Singham is a U.S. citizen." Singham lives in Shanghai.

A third group named in the probe, the Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, had not publicly released a response, Fox News Digital reported.

What the Committee Says

The committee, led by Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., says it is examining whether money moving through Singham's network of tax-exempt groups is being used to advance Chinese Communist Party interests in the United States, and whether the rules for tax-exempt status adequately account for foreign influence. Those are the committee's allegations; no court or agency has found that any of the groups broke the law.

"Either these organizations turn over the documents, or their leaders will answer the Committee's questions under oath," Smith said in an Oct. 13 statement announcing the Oct. 20 deadline. In the same statement he said Singham "has poured millions of dollars into these groups to take advantage of America's nonprofit sector and promote Chinese Communist Party propaganda."

The committee has identified 21 people, including Singham, as potential witnesses, Fox News Digital reported. It maintains that its probe concerns the groups' finances and structure, not their politics or reporting. The committee had not commented on the new letters as of Fox News Digital's report.

Press Freedom Groups Weigh In

Ten press freedom and civil liberties organizations, including PEN America, the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the Society of Professional Journalists, sent Smith a letter on Oct. 20 urging the committee to drop its threat to subpoena BreakThrough News staff, according to the Freedom of the Press Foundation and Fox News Digital.

"Rep. Smith's shameless targeting of BreakThrough News for editorial viewpoints that he dislikes shows a complete disregard of the First Amendment," said Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation. "The committee has not identified any alleged unlawful conduct by BreakThrough or any legitimate legislative purpose for its investigation."

The fight is the latest step in a standoff that began in September 2025, when the committee first sought records from The People's Forum. It sent similar letters to BreakThrough News and Tricontinental in February and subpoenaed all three in July, according to the committee.

Image: Ron Cogswell / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.

Hold Everyone Accountable.

Sources: Fox News Digital, "Singham-linked nonprofits defy House ultimatum, blast 'MAGA-led witch hunt'" (Oct. 22, 2026): https://www.foxnews.com/politics/singham-linked-nonprofits-defy-house-ultimatum-blast-maga-led-witch-hunt ; BreakThrough News and The People's Forum Oct. 20, 2026, responses (PDF posted by Fox News): https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/10/BreakThrough_News_and_Peoples_Forum_Oct_20_2026_Responses.pdf ; The People's Forum statement (Oct. 21, 2026): https://peoplesforum.org/blog_post/tpf-responds-to-congress-we-wont-surrender-our-first-amendment-rights-or-our-civil-liberties/ ; House Ways and Means Committee release (Oct. 13, 2026): https://waysandmeans.house.gov/2026/10/13/chairman-smith-demands-ccp-linked-singham-network-nonprofits-comply-with-subpoenas/ ; Freedom of the Press Foundation (Oct. 19, 2026): https://freedom.press/issues/congressional-threats-to-breakthrough-news-are-unconstitutional-harassment