A Chinese Government-Linked Network is Trying to Reach the Halls of the U.S. Government

The upcoming 2026 U.S. midterm elections will mark a milestone for the far-left Party of Socialism and Liberation (PSL). Long focused on presidential campaigns, the party is now coordinating a determined, intentional push for federal office in a midterm cycle, fielding candidates across four states.

The PSL’s historic push has been timed well, as anti-Western and anti-American rhetoric have reached a peak in left-leaning discourse, both online and in the streets. And the party has been a visible presence in that turn. Its banners and activists have become fixtures at anti-ICE and anti-Israel rallies across the country and therefore, the PSL and its supporting network have drawn increased scrutiny of lawmakers in Washington.

For several years, the PSL has operated inside a sprawling ecosystem of nonprofits, media outlets, and activist organizations that congressional investigators allege is underwritten by a network of funds tied to Neville Roy Singham, an American tech magnate who sold his software company for a reported $785 million and now lives in Shanghai. Critics accuse him of amplifying the messaging of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Until recently, Singham’s network and associates have focused their activity on protest mobilization, propaganda outlets, and influence operations. Now, the PSL is testing the waters to determine its chances of gaining a foothold in elected office. It has fielded candidates for the U.S. Senate in Ohio and Massachusetts, California, and a challenger to a sitting congressman in the Bronx – the most ambitious push into a midterm election in its history. This push has attracted a question that now shadows the party: who funds the movement behind it, and does the trail lead to Beijing?

Party of Socialism and Liberation

The PSL was founded in 2004 when activist Brian Becker, his brother Richard, and others split from the Workers World Party, itself a 1959 splinter from the Socialist Workers Party formed after a dispute over the Soviet Union’s 1956 invasion of Hungary. PSL is a Marxist-Leninist party organized on a democratic-centralist model with its goal being the “revolutionary overthrow of capitalism.”

PSL has a physical presence in numerous U.S. cities.^[1] Its organizing model combines protest, political education, and electoral campaigns. It has run a presidential ticket in every cycle since 2008. Its 2024 nominee, Claudia de la Cruz, received 167,772 votes (0.11%) – nearly double the party’s 2020 total. In 2024, the Democratic-backed legal challenges in Georgia and Pennsylvania sought to disqualify de la Cruz’s ticket; after protracted litigation she was ultimately kept off both ballots (though her name remained printed in some cases).^[2]

PSL incorporates anti-Zionism as a core organizing principle. It characterized the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack as a “bold counter-offensive” and has sponsored or co-sponsored more than 1,700 anti-Israel rallies since the massacre, which killed thousands of civilians, including Americans. The party defends the Chinese government’s human rights record, denies the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, supports North Korea, and attributes the Russo-Ukrainian war to NATO.^[3]

PSL has extensive, documented organizational and personnel overlap with other parts of what has come to be known as the Singham network, especially the ANSWER Coalition, a national anti-imperialist and protest mobilization organization that organized most of the aforementioned anti-Israel rallies. Recently, in March 2026, ANSWER organized a national day of action with other pro-Palestinian and Singham-linked groups, protesting Operation Epic Fury and the war against the Islamic regime in Iran.^[4] Becker, PSL’s founder, is also ANSWER’s National Director. De la Cruz, PSL’s former presidential candidate, served until recently as co-director of The People’s Forum, a “movement incubator” and a crucial part of the Singham network. ^[5]

2026 PSL Candidates

Andre Easton (U.S. House, New York’s 15^th District)

Easton, a Bronx public school teacher, is challenging pro-Israel incumbent Democrat Ritchie Torres. His campaign is built as much around Israel as it is around the Bronx. Easton describes capitalism as a “system where billionaires bribe our politicians to fund genocide in Gaza,” and frames the race against Torres explicitly in those terms, arguing that removing pro-Israel officials for their “complicity in funding and supporting a genocide is a step in the right direction” – though he adds that doing so treats only “a symptom” of the deeper problem, which is capitalism itself. His campaign slogan is “the Bronx is ready for socialism.”^[6]

Notably, Easton delivered some of those remarks at an April 2026 event hosted at The People’s Forum, the Manhattan organization that sits at the heart of the Singham network (see below).^[7] This draws a direct line of cooperation between a PSL candidate and one of the most heavily funded parts of Singham’s network.

Greg Levy (U.S. Senate, Ohio)

Levy, a military veteran and community organizer from Akron, is running for the seat left open by JD Vance’s move to the vice presidency. Levy is campaigning on “a complete reconstruction of society” and an end to “the rule of the billionaires once and for all.” He names individual Ohio billionaires as targets and tells audiences that “Ohio is ready for socialism.” Levy’s platform calls for “cutting all aid to the racist, genocidal state of Israel” and for lifting all sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela, and the Islamic Republic of Iran. He also advocates for slashing the Pentagon budget by 90% and dismantling NATO and all U.S. military bases abroad. ^[8]

Joe Tache (U.S. Senate, Massachusetts)

Tache, a Boston youth worker, is challenging veteran Democrat Ed Markey under the slogan “capitalism is a national emergency, and the solution is socialism.” He has openly stated that win or lose, he views the campaign as “primarily a tool of building the movement.” His platform calls outright to “seize the top 100 corporations and reorganize the economy to meet our needs.”^[9]

Tache is a writer for the PSL’s media outlet, Liberation News, where he wrote in 2024 that “Israel’s actions constitute collective punishment and genocide against the people of Gaza,” and ascribed the October 7 Hamas attacks to the “Palestinian national liberation movement,” characterizing them as “resistance.” ^[10]

California Joint Ticket

In California, the PSL is running a joint ticket of three candidates under the banner of the Peace and Freedom Party – Ramsey Robinson (running for Governor), Eduardo “Lalo” Vargas (running for Insurance Commissioner), and Frank Lara (running for state superintendent). The Peace and Freedom Party is used as a vehicle by California PSL members, as the PSL is not ballot-qualified in the state.

Robinson, a San Francisco social worker, calls the state of California a “billionaire dictatorship.” He built his platform on abolishing ICE, pledging to ban all state cooperation, decertifying police who assist it, shutting down detention centers, and ordering the National Guard to “stand down and go home.” Robinson was a key organizer of anti-Israel rallies in San Francisco post-October 7, 2023, and his platform calls to “mandate full divestment of state retirement plans from companies enabling Israeli occupation, apartheid and genocide.”^[11]

Vargas, a science teacher, has a documented record of pro-Palestine activism. During his 2024 run for Los Angeles City Council, he organized alongside groups including the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and a labor coalition called Labor for Palestine. He told a pro-Palestinian crowd that “our liberation is intertwined with the liberation of Palestine,” calling to “free Palestine from the river to the sea,” and vowing to withhold support from then-President Joe Biden over Gaza. ^[12]

Lara, a vice president of the San Francisco teachers’ union running for state superintendent, is campaigning on “ICE-free schools” and on defending California’s controversial and contested ethnic studies curriculum – widely criticized as anti-American and anti-Israel – alongside support for educators who teach “the Palestinian struggle and other anti-imperialist movements.”^[13]

In October 2025, Lara was interviewed by BreakThrough News (part of the Singham network, see below) to voice opposition to proposed state antisemitism legislation Assembly Bill 715, which he claimed was a violation of free speech.^[14]

The Singham Network

Neville Roy Singham is a U.S.‑born technology entrepreneur based in Shanghai, China. Since at least 2019, congressional investigators and journalists have documented that Singham has channeled more than $100 million to a network of far-left U.S. nonprofits through opaque intermediaries, including donor‑advised funds at Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Services, the United Community Fund, and the People’s Support Foundation. Singham has served as a consultant to Huawei Technologies and maintains close professional relationships with Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials.^[15]

A 2023 New York Times investigation documented Singham’s role in funding propaganda outlets that amplify CCP foreign policy positions and adopt consistently hostile stances to U.S. foreign policy.^[16] The network of Singham-funded organizations includes:

Progress Unity Fund (PUF)

PUF acts as ANSWER’s fiscal sponsor and shared an address with them as recently as 2019.^[17] PUF also serves as the fiscal sponsor for Pivot to Peace, an organization with known ties to the CCP and one of whose activists was arrested in 2023 for acting “within the United States as an agent of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] government.”^[18]

The People’s Forum (TPF)

TPF is a 501(c)(3) far-left organization which acts as a “movement incubator,” providing space for political education, organizing, and cultural programming. TPF regularly collaborates with ANSWER and other radical groups on campaigns and protests.

CODEPINK

CODEPINK is a women-led anti-war organization that is sharply critical of U.S. foreign policy and has received substantial funding from Singham, whose spouse, Jodie Evans, is the organization’s co-founder. The union between Singham and Evans appears to have fueled CODEPINK’s recent shift from spreading anti-China to pro-China messaging.

BreakThrough News (BTN)

BTN is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media organization producing reporting and commentary that consistently align with the political messaging promoted by ANSWER and The People’s Forum, focusing on anti-imperialism and critical perspectives on American domestic and foreign policy. Its editor-in-chief, Ben Becker, is the son of Brian Becker, PSL founder and ANSWER’s national director.^[19]

1804 Books

1804 Books is a not-for-profit bookstore and press physically located at The People’s Forum.^[20] As a “shop for socialist literature and revolutionary theory,” it serves as a resource for political education and movement building, directly supporting TPF’s mission. All proceeds from 1804 Books support TPF’s educational and cultural programming. 1804 Books’ events, such as its book launches and author discussions, are often integrated into TPF’s broader event schedule.

Justice and Education Fund (JEF)

JEF is a policy organization focused on wealth redistribution and providing funding for educational initiatives in Latin America, Africa, and the United States.^[21]

The PSL is closely tied to the above groups, sharing a particularly significant leadership and personnel overlap with the ANSWER Coalition, The People’s Forum, and Breakthrough News. The New York branch of PSL regularly holds events at The People’s Forum. These ties are so close and well known that the above groups are widely seen as unofficial arms of the PSL. According to one PSL organizer, “mass organizations including Artists Against Apartheid, our Liberation Centers, The People’s Forum and others may not have explicit ties to the party when it comes to our public facing work but are led primarily by [PSL] comrades.”^[22]

The 2023 NYT investigation reported that Chinese state-media accounts had amplified Singham-network accounts at least 122 times since February 2020; that Singham shares Shanghai office space with the Maku Group, a media company displaying pro-Xi banners, to which he has given nearly $1.8 million; and that he attended a CCP workshop on international messaging.^[23]

In February 2026, a witness at a House Committee on Ways & Means hearing on “Unmasking Threats from Beijing and Beyond” pointed specifically to Singham and his network, including the PSL, as propagating social media campaigns designed to “turn protestors into pawns of foreign governments”:

“The ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation mobilize the protesters. The People’s Forum trains and coordinates the activists. BreakThrough News handles messaging and media amplification. The impact of this money is ongoing: federal property vandalized at Union Station; American flags burned and police officers assaulted. Airports blocked at JFK and LAX. Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges shut down. Ambulances and commuters disrupted. Wall Street blockaded; holiday commerce halted at Macy’s Herald Square; and immigration and law enforcement facilities targeted. This is not grassroots protest. It is a repeatable system for paralyzing American infrastructure on demand, financed through U.S. tax law, and aligned with a hostile foreign power. It is an active vulnerability we cannot afford to leave intact.”^[24]

In June 2026, the Department of Justice launched a grand jury investigation into Singham over potential financial crimes tied to the funding of this network.^[25]

Additional Campaign Activity

PSL were organizers and participants of a May 2026 rally with former Missouri congresswoman Cori Bush, who is seeking to reclaim her old seat in the upcoming elections. The rally featured a guest of honor – the influential Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, known for his anti-American and antisemitic rhetoric and support of extremism (including his assertion that “America deserved 9/11”). PSL was one of the organizers of the event, and Piker and Bush were preceded on stage by PSL organizer Ángel Flores Fontánez.^[26]

Conclusion

The upcoming midterm elections represent the transition of the Singham network’s American wing from the street into electoral politics. While no PSL candidate is likely to win their race in this cycle, the shift in political discourse signaled by their candidacies is disturbing because an openly anti-American, China-aligned slate of candidates is attempting to legitimize itself on the ballot at a scale never attempted before.

The Department of Justice’s recent announcement about an investigation into the Singham network underlines the severity of this trend. The same organizations that used opaque funding to paralyze the streets of New York City and Los Angeles over the past three years are now making a serious push for elected office. They may not be successful in 2026, but in the absence of real intervention against foreign influence in American politics, their next attempts will be better funded, better organized, and harder to dismiss.

Endnotes 

1. Anti-Defamation League, “The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL),” https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/party-socialism-and-liberation-psl ↑
2. Atlanta Civic Circle, September 18, 2024, https://atlantaciviccircle.org/2024/09/18/claudia-de-la-cruz-party-socialism-liberation-ballot-access/ , and Peace and Freedom Party, https://www.peaceandfreedom.us/index.php/news/elections-campaigns/claudia-de-la-cruz-pfp-potus-nominee; “Party for Socialism and Liberation Loses Pennsylvania Ballot Access Case,” Ballot Access News, August 20, 2024, https://ballot-access.org/2024/08/20/party-for-socialism-and-liberation-loses-pennsylvania-ballot-access-case/; Socialist candidate Claudia De la Cruz moves to counter Democrats’ Pennsylvania ballot challenge,” TAG24, https://www.tag24.com/news/politics/politicians/socialist-candidate-claudia-de-la-cruz-moves-to-counter-democrats-pennsylvania-ballot-challenge-3310833. ↑
3. Anti-Defamation League, “The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL),” https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/party-socialism-and-liberation-psl ; on the party’s foreign-policy positions, see “The PSL Is Not a Vote for Class Independence,” Left Voice, November 3, 2024, https://www.leftvoice.org/the-psl-is-not-a-vote-for-class-independence/ ↑
4. ANSWER Coalition, Instagram, published February 28, 2026, accessed July 2026, https://www.instagram.com/p/DVUVq2UkuaA/?hl=en ↑
5. LinkedIn, Claudia de la Cruz, https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudia-de-la-cruz-6b473070, accessed June 2026 ↑
6. On Easton’s description of capitalism as a “system where billionaires bribe our politicians to fund genocide in Gaza” and the “the Bronx is ready for socialism” campaign framing, see “Socialist Andre Easton to Challenge Ritchie Torres in Midterm Election,” Best in the Bronx, October 2025, https://bestinthebronx.nyc/socialist-andre-easton-bronx-election/ . On his remarks at The People’s Forum – that removing officials for their “complicity in funding and supporting a genocide is a step in the right direction,” while addressing only “a symptom” of the deeper problem of capitalism – see “New York Teacher Seeking to Unseat Ritchie Torres Calls for Socialism, Removal of All Pro-Israel Politicians,” Algemeiner, April 28, 2026, https://www.algemeiner.com/2026/04/28/new-york-teacher-seeking-unseat-ritchie-torres-calls-socialism-removal-all-pro-israel-politicians/ . ↑
7. @thestustustudio, X, https://x.com/thestustustudio/status/2048954860041638380 ↑
8. Greg Levy for Senate, campaign website, accessed June 2026, https://www.greg4senate.com/ ↑
9. “@tache4ma, Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/p/DP7fsXZDXMD/ ↑
10. Joe Tache, “Why the Palestine movement is a struggle for national liberation,” Liberation News, 2024, https://liberationnews.org/palestine-the-struggle-for-national-liberation-and-the-role-of-the-u-s-working-class/ ↑
11. On Robinson’s characterization of California as a “billionaire dictatorship, where corporations buy politicians and rig the system,” his pledge to “ban all cooperation with ICE — not just by police, but any agency or institution receiving state funds,” including “prosecuting and decertifying cops who collaborate with ICE and shutting down ICE detention centers,” and his platform plank to divest California state retirement funds from companies “enabling Israeli occupation, apartheid and genocide,” see Ramsey Robinson for Governor of California, campaign website, accessed June 2026, https://www.ramsey4gov.com/ . On his pledge to “tell the National Guard to stand down and go home,” see Ramsey Robinson, interview, “Meet California’s Socialist Candidate for Governor, Ramsey Robinson – Exclusive Interview,” Solano Pulse, March 27, 2026, https://solanopulse.com/2026/03/27/meet-californias-socialist-candidate-for-governor-ramsey-robinson-exclusive-interview/ . On his organizing in the Palestine solidarity movement -“helping organize and speaking at rallies with over a hundred thousand people in the first months after October 7th” – see “Ramsey Robinson,” Ballotpedia, accessed June 2026, https://ballotpedia.org/Ramsey_Robinson . ↑
12. “Some Black and Latino voters to back Democratic candidates who want a permanent cease-fire in Gaza,” NBC News, March 5, 2024, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/black-latino-voters-back-democratic-candidates-want-permanent-cease-fi-rcna141241 ↑
13. Frank for California Schools, https://www.frank4caschools.com/, accessed June 2026 ↑
14. BreakThrough News, interview with Frank Lara on California’s AB 715, YouTube, October 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L14m_gCKaQ ↑
15. “A Global Web of Chinese Propaganda Leads to a U.S. Tech Mogul,” New York Times, Aug. 5, 2023, https://archive.is/7vE7q#selection-491.0-491.61 ↑
16. Ibid. ↑
17. Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), Contagious Disruption: “How CCP Influence and Radical Ideologies Threaten Critical Infrastructure and Campuses Across the United States,” May 2024, https://networkcontagion.us/reports/ccp-influence-and-radical-ideologies/ ↑
18. U.S. Department of Justice, “Massachusetts Man Indicted for Acting as an Illegal Agent of the People’s Republic of China,” May 15, 2023, www.justice.gov/opa/pr/massachusetts-man-indicted-acting-illegal-agent-people-s-republic-china ↑
19. Fox News, “Anti-US Protesters Funded by Pro-China Tycoon Mobilize as First Bombs Fall on Iran,” Feb. 28, 2026, https://www.foxnews.com/us/nonprofits-funded-by-pro-ccp-tycoon-mobilize-pro-regime-protests-10-minutes-before-trump-even-reveals-he-launc ↑
20. 1804 Books, Facebook, published 3/9/2021, accessed 6/1/2025 ↑
21. Influence Watch, “Justice and Education Fund,” accessed June 2026, https://www.influencewatch.org/non-profit/justice-and-education-fund/ ↑
22. Quoted in Anti-Defamation League, “The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL),” https://www.adl.org/resources/backgrounder/party-socialism-and-liberation-psl ↑
23. “A Global Web of Chinese Propaganda Leads to a U.S. Tech Mogul,” New York Times, Aug. 5, 2023, https://archive.is/7vE7q#selection-491.0-491.61 ↑
24. House Ways and Means Committee, “Six Key Moments: Hearing on Foreign Influence in American Non-profits, Unmasking Threats from Beijing and Beyond,” February 12, 2026, https://waysandmeans.house.gov/2026/02/12/six-key-moments-hearing-on-foreign-influence-in-american-non-profits-unmasking-threats-from-beijing-and-beyond/ ↑
25. Fox News, “DOJ launches grand jury probe into Marxist mogul Neville Roy Singham’s funding of leftist groups,” June 29, 2026, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/doj-launches-grand-jury-probe-marxist-mogul-neville-roy-singhams-funding-leftist-groups ↑
26. Devin Thomas O’Shea, “Hasan Piker Campaigns for Cori Bush in Missouri,” The Intercept, May 8, 2026, https://theintercept.com/2026/05/08/hasan-piker-cori-bush-wesley-bell-missouri-primary/ ↑