The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!
The Daily BS • Bo Snerdley Cuts Through It!

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CodePink activists love ambushing lawmakers with cameras — until Fox turns the tables

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THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?

SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do)

  • CodePink and allied left-wing activists descended on Capitol Hill for a Veterans Day lobbying campaign, aggressively questioning lawmakers while trying to stop Fox News reporters from filming and questioning them.
  • Activists covered Fox’s camera with scarves, backpacks and their hands. When reporters asked about financial backing from Shanghai-based millionaire Neville Roy Singham, CodePink representatives refused to answer.
  • Fox News traced approximately $24.9 million in contributions to three organizations in the activist network. Singham’s broader funding operation is already under federal investigation, although he denies acting on behalf of the Chinese government.

LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time)

CodePink activists have spent years chasing politicians through congressional hallways, shoving cameras in their faces and demanding answers to uncomfortable questions.

But when Fox News Digital decided to return the favor Wednesday, the professional protesters suddenly discovered a deep appreciation for personal space.

Reporters Asra Nomani and Hannah Brennan followed activists from CodePink, BreakThrough News and other left-wing organizations during a Capitol Hill lobbying campaign dubbed the Taxpayer Uprising.

The groups were demanding cuts in military spending, an end to American military involvement in Iran and a halt to military cooperation with Israel.

Their technique was familiar: find a lawmaker, surround him with cameras, demand answers and post the confrontation online. Apparently, the arrangement works considerably better when you’re the one holding the camera.

At the Rayburn House Office Building, activists confronted Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman over military cooperation with Israel.

CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin questioned him about a defense authorization provision she characterized as merging the American and Israeli militaries. Goldman disputed that description, explaining that the provision concerned military technology cooperation.

Goldman then challenged the activists over their positions regarding Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The conversation quickly deteriorated, with CodePink activist Tighe Barry loudly accusing the congressman of lying.

So far, a fairly typical morning on Capitol Hill.

Then Fox started asking questions. When Nomani approached CodePink representatives about their organizations’ financing, activists repeatedly blocked the camera with their hands, a keffiyeh, a jacket, and even a pink backpack decorated with watermelons.

CodePink media contact Melissa Garriga pretended she couldn’t hear the reporter standing in front of her. After repeated questions about funding, she put her hand over the lens and snapped, “Just buzz off.”

BreakThrough News commentator Rania Khalek was similarly unenthusiastic.

“Oh, dear. I’m not speaking to you,” she replied when questioned about her organization’s financial connections.

Khalek then pulled out her own phone and began filming the reporter, accusing Fox News of harassment. Later, she denounced the reporter over Israel’s military operations in Gaza and accused the network of defending atrocities.

Apparently, recording someone without their enthusiastic cooperation becomes a problem only when the wrong person controls the camera.

The activists also visited House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ office, where they met with a staff member rather than the congressman. That didn’t stop Benjamin from filming a triumphant announcement outside the office. CodePink subsequently posted video boasting, “We just packed the office of Hakeem Jeffries.”

But the more consequential part of Fox’s investigation had nothing to do with the camera theatrics. It concerned the money.

Fox News identified approximately $1.33 million in contributions to CodePink, $1.098 million to BreakThrough’s parent organization, and $22.44 million to the People’s Forum from financial channels linked to Neville Roy Singham.

Singham is an American technology millionaire who sold his company, Thoughtworks, for approximately $785 million in 2017 and now lives in Shanghai.

He’s also married to CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans.

The New York Times previously investigated Singham’s extensive financial support for activist and media organizations that promote positions favorable to the Chinese government. Its reporting documented financial relationships and connections to Chinese state-aligned propaganda operations.

CBS News reported in July that federal investigators were examining Singham’s nonprofit funding network for possible foreign-agent and tax-law violations.

Singham has denied taking instructions from the Chinese government, and CodePink has denied receiving money from the Chinese Communist Party.  But those connections help explain why congressional Republicans have been demanding answers about the organizations’ financing and foreign relationships.

According to Fox News, the Veterans Day coalition included 56 organizations with combined annual revenues estimated at approximately $40 million. Participants ranged from established anti-war nonprofits to organizations openly identifying with socialism and communism.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise questioned the timing of the demonstrations during Veterans Day observances and suggested Americans examine the groups’ financial backing.

Fox’s investigation also documented CodePink activists successfully filming their own confrontations and distributing the footage to followers.

One supporter celebrated their performance as “psychic militancy.” An interesting name for a political strategy that apparently involves holding a backpack in front of a television camera.

DBS WIRE SOURCES

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