Top House lawmakers are pressing Treasury and the IRS to investigate U.S. tax-exempt nonprofits they say have been co-opted by the Chinese Communist Party to interfere in American elections and politics. The nonprofits described as “hometown” organizations are formed by immigrants from the same towns or provinces in China to welcome new arrivals, organize parades, and help members maintain social and cultural ties.
In recent years, the FBI investigated the American Changle Association in New York City, alleging it housed an illegal “secret police station” run by China’s Ministry of Public Security. Two people were arrested for acting as unregistered foreign agents, with the police station used to harass dissidents and monitor citizens abroad. Chen Jinping, of New York, pled guilty to conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the government of the People’s Republic of China. The other man’s case is navigating through the courts.
House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Chairman John Moolenaar and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and IRS Commissioner-designate Frank Bisignano raising grave concerns that hometown entities linked to the CCP are exploiting the U.S. nonprofit system. The lawmakers warned that the groups are part of a CCP United Front strategy, described in a prior congressional memo as a blend of engagement, influence activities, and intelligence operations used to shape political environments and advance Beijing’s interests abroad. They noted that some of these groups are created under the guise of Chinese expatriates forming overseas friendship networks.
Citing a New York Times investigation published last year, the letter states that at least 53 organizations endorsed or raised money for political candidates, likely in violation of the rules, with at least 19 in clear violation of federal restrictions. The letter also touches on broader concerns about a so-called far-left network that promotes Iran’s interests and has mobilized activities that the authors describe as a national outreach in opposition to U.S. policy.
The letter follows a February hearing by the Ways and Means Committee examining malign foreign influence in the U.S. nonprofit sector, including organizations linked to a tech entrepreneur, Neville Roy Singham, who was born in the United States and lives in Shanghai, promoting the CCP’s strategic interests. A Fox News Digital investigation tracked $278 million that Singham poured into a network of groups that fuel anti-American protests, support China, and now back Iran, according to the report. Singham and the groups he has funded did not respond to requests for comment. The new letter from Moolenaar and Smith targeted another set of organizations formed in the Chinese diaspora, but the scope of the inquiry remains wide.
