House Panel Gives Three Singham-Linked Nonprofits Until Tuesday to Comply With Subpoenas or Face Questioning Under Oath
The House Ways and Means Committee has given three tax-exempt organizations tied to Neville Roy Singham until Tuesday, Oct. 20, to turn over documents demanded in July subpoenas, warning that their leaders could otherwise be called to answer questions under oath.
In letters to lawyers for The People’s Forum, BreakThrough News and Tricontinental, Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., reaffirmed the committee’s demand for the records, according to a committee release dated Oct. 13. The release says that if the groups fail to comply by Oct. 20, 2026, “the Committee will continue taking more aggressive oversight actions.”
The committee describes Singham as “a former U.S. technology mogul now residing in Shanghai with strong connections to the Chinese Communist Party.” Its probe asks whether money moving through tax-exempt groups is advancing the Chinese Communist Party’s aims, and whether tax law guards well enough against foreign influence.
WHAT THE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE IS DEMANDING
“Shanghai Singham has poured millions of dollars into these groups to take advantage of America’s nonprofit sector and promote Chinese Communist Party propaganda,” Smith said in a statement. “Either these organizations turn over the documents, or their leaders will answer the Committee’s questions under oath.”
According to the committee, the deposition subpoenas it is weighing would cover eight officials and staff at The People’s Forum, seven at BreakThrough News and six at Tricontinental. Fox News Digital reported that the committee has not publicly announced that any deposition subpoenas have been issued.
In May, the committee says, it narrowed its requests to three areas: fiscal sponsorships involving foreign nationals or foreign entities; communications with Singham or other foreign principals about finances, governance and structure; and donor information on contributions from foreign nationals and foreign organizations.
The committee says The People’s Forum alone has received more than $20 million from Singham’s network. A Fox News Digital investigation previously put the figures at $22.44 million to The People’s Forum, $16.76 million to Tricontinental and $1.098 million to BreakThrough News’ parent organization.
HOW THE SINGHAM-LINKED NONPROFITS SUBPOENA FIGHT GOT HERE
The committee first sought records from The People’s Forum in September 2025, according to its release. In February 2026 it sent similar letters to BreakThrough News and Tricontinental. The committee says all three refused, that it repeated its demands in May, and that it subpoenaed all three in July after they still did not produce documents.
In its latest letters, the committee says the inquiry ties directly to its legislative work. “As previously explained, the Committee’s legislative purpose is to examine whether existing legal standards governing tax-exempt status adequately account for foreign influence and control,” Smith wrote, according to the release.
These are the committee’s allegations. No court or agency has found that any of the three groups broke the law.
WHAT THE ORGANIZATIONS SAY
The groups have pushed back in public. On Aug. 7, the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund delivered responses to the subpoenas on behalf of The People’s Forum and BreakThrough News. The lawyers argued the subpoenas were an abuse of authority aimed at First Amendment-protected speech and that the committee had not shown a valid legislative purpose. “A witch-hunt is not a valid legislative purpose,” the responses said, according to the group’s published statement.
In an Oct. 9 statement on its website, BreakThrough News said the committee’s new letter lists the names of its reporters and editors and threatens to subpoena each of them to a deposition in Washington. “BT is an independent news organization, which receives no editorial direction from any outside force,” the outlet wrote. “All major donations have come from U.S. organizations, using U.S. financial institutions, and complying with all U.S. laws.” It called the effort “intimidation of the press, pure and simple.”
The committee rejects that framing. Fox News Digital reported that the committee maintains its investigation concerns the groups’ finances and structure, not their political views or journalism.
Sources: House Ways and Means Committee release, “Chairman Smith Demands CCP-Linked Singham Network Nonprofits Comply with Subpoenas” (Oct. 13, 2026), and its July 24, 2026, subpoena release; Partnership for Civil Justice Fund statement on its Aug. 7, 2026, subpoena responses; BreakThrough News statement (Oct. 9, 2026); Fox News Digital. Cover and in-post backgrounds: Longworth House Office Building, U.S. Capitol photos (public domain) via Wikimedia Commons.
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