President Trump convened Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and FBI Director Kash Patel at the White House on October 8 to review research documenting what Government Accountability Institute investigator Seamus Bruner calls “Riot Inc.”—a coordinated network of nonprofits, fiscal sponsors, and media outlets that has received more than $100 million to fund, organize, and provide legal support for left-wing groups engaged in protests and riots. The briefing marked the beginning of a federal enforcement campaign that three months later has escalated to foreign terrorist designations, operational directives targeting domestic groups, and a congressional subpoena for the Shanghai-based American billionaire whose money flows through the network.
Bruner told the gathering that “we followed the money, and we followed it to the top of what we call the protest industrial complex.” His research identified major funders including George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the Arabella network, the Tides network, Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, and Neville Roy Singham, an American tech executive who sold his company for $785 million in 2017 and now operates from Shanghai with documented Chinese Communist Party ties. Bruner’s presentation claimed more than $100 million in taxpayer funding has also flowed through these networks, primarily through grants to fiscal sponsors like Tides Center, which received $37.8 million in government funding in 2024.
The White House announced a “whole-of-government” approach using RICO statutes and IRS reviews of tax-exempt status for nonprofits allegedly misusing charitable funds. By November 13, the State Department designated four European Antifa groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. On December 4, Bondi issued an operational memorandum directing federal law enforcement to compile domestic terrorism organization lists and establish cash rewards for informants. The House Oversight Committee voted January 7 to subpoena Singham after he ignored a June 2025 demand for documents. FBI Director Patel announced January 8 a nationwide investigation into anti-immigration enforcement protest organizers and funders.
The network’s coordination became visible that same day when Singham-funded organizations deployed protesters in at least a dozen cities within hours of an ICE agent shooting Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. The Party for Socialism and Liberation coordinated marches in Tucson, Seattle, Boston, Milwaukee, Columbus, New York, Portland, Chicago, Anchorage, New Orleans, and San Antonio. The People’s Forum organized protests outside ICE headquarters and picketed Noem. BreakThrough News promoted demonstrations across social media. Code Pink, co-founded by Singham’s wife Jodie Evans, amplified the calls. The response demonstrated what Bruner described: a network with boots on the ground, PR divisions, marketing divisions, and legal support to return arrested protesters to the streets.
The money enabling that coordination flows from multiple major sources. Soros’ Open Society Foundations gave Arabella network entities $153.5 million between 2018 and 2022. The Gates Foundation gave Arabella $180.4 million from 2018 to 2023. Chan Zuckerberg Initiative contributed $83.3 million. Wyss has been identified as a major Sixteen Thirty Fund contributor, though the amount remains undisclosed.
Singham differs from other funders because of his Shanghai base and CCP connections. Chinese government records list him as a corporate officer of Thoughtworks Beijing as of June 17, 2025. The New York Times reported he shares offices with Maku Group—a Chinese media company promoting positive visions of China worldwide—and attended at least one CCP workshop on promoting the party globally. He worked as a consultant with government-linked telecom giant Huawei from 2001 to 2008. His wife Evans stated in 2023 that she “now strongly supports China, and regards it as a defender of the oppressed.” Code Pink has received 25 percent of its funding from Singham-connected groups since their 2017 marriage.
The People’s Forum acknowledged Singham’s support in a December 2021 post, calling him “a Marxist comrade who sold his company & donated most of his wealth to non-profits that focus on political education, culture, & internationalism.” Tax records show The People’s Forum is co-directed by Claudia De La Cruz and Manolo De Los Santos, both PSL members. De La Cruz was PSL’s 2024 presidential candidate. De Los Santos previously worked “based out of Cuba for many years” building “international networks of people’s movements.” Both support the Cuban communist dictatorship.
Progress Unity Fund serves as fiscal sponsor for ANSWER Coalition, which the New Republic described as a PSL “front group.” The fund is run by Susan Muysenberg, described as a PSL “founding member,” along with Elizabeth Lowengard and Claire Cook. BreakThrough News lists Ben Becker, a PSL member and former ANSWER organizer, as editor-in-chief. PSL’s platform declares its members are “Marxists in the United States” pursuing communist revolution. The overlapping leadership demonstrates the coordinated structure Bruner presented to the White House.
The administration’s response began with National Security Presidential Memorandum-7, signed September 25, which directed federal agencies to investigate, prosecute, and disrupt entities engaged in political violence and financial networks funding domestic terrorism. The October 8 briefing translated that directive into operational planning. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s November 13 designations of Antifa Ost in Germany, Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front in Italy, and Armed Proletarian Justice and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense in Greece supported NSPM-7’s initiative to disrupt networks using political violence to undermine democratic institutions.
Attorney General Bondi’s December 4 memorandum provided the enforcement blueprint. The directive orders federal law enforcement to refer suspected domestic terrorism cases to Joint Terrorism Task Forces for exhaustive investigation to map full networks of participants, organizers, and funders, including those outside the United States. The memo identifies “Antifa-aligned extremists” who adhere to extreme viewpoints on immigration, radical gender ideology, and anti-American sentiment as threats requiring priority attention. Federal prosecutors must pursue conspiracy charges, terrorism sentencing enhancements, and RICO statutes. The FBI must review intelligence files from the past five years and establish a cash reward system for information leading to arrests of organization leaders. The memorandum lists more than two dozen federal statutes for prosecution, including obstruction, firearms offenses, arson, sedition, material support for terrorism, and tax crimes where extremist groups are suspected of defrauding the IRS, signaling scrutiny of tax-exempt status for nonprofits allegedly coordinating or funding political violence.
The House Oversight Committee sent Singham a June 2025 letter demanding documents on his funding of PSL, The People’s Forum, and ANSWER Coalition, as well as agreements with CCP-tied entities. The letter expressed concern that Singham “may be engaging in such activities on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.” He ignored the demand. Representative Anna Paulina Luna moved to subpoena him during a January 7 hearing, telling the committee that Singham “has been funding extremist organizations fueling division and civil unrest in this country.” The subpoena passed by voice vote. Luna added that if Singham fails to comply, she will move for inherent contempt.
FBI Director Patel announced January 8 that the bureau has launched a nationwide investigation into “paid protest campaigns throughout the country including organizers, protesters and funding sources that drive illicit activities.” PSL social media accounts claimed “video evidence clearly shows that ICE is lying when they claim self-defense” and called the shooting a “cold-blooded murder.” De Los Santos led chants describing ICE as “her army of thugs, killers, and kidnappers” and calling Noem “a cold-blooded murderer.” He posted that “the cold blooded killing of a woman by ICE in Minneapolis and Trump’s bombing of over 100 people in Venezuela are connected acts of the same brutal machine.”
Senators Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham called for Justice Department investigation of 18 Singham-linked entities for FARA violations, stating that “organizations tied to Neville Roy Singham, a U.S. citizen, have been receiving direction from the CCP.” The IRS Criminal Investigation division has installed personnel aligned with administration priorities to pursue organizations under NSPM-7. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has pledged to leverage IRS investigative tools to “follow the money” mapping financial networks.
Singham told The New York Times in 2023 that he is “solely guided by my beliefs, which are my long-held personal views” and categorically denies working for any political party or government. Chinese government records showing his Thoughtworks Beijing role contradict at least part of that denial. His organizations’ immediate coordination following the Minneapolis shooting demonstrated the operational capability Bruner documented for the White House—a network that deploys nationwide within hours when triggered.
The October 8 briefing established the investigative framework. The November foreign terrorist designations created legal tools for financial isolation. The December operational memorandum authorized exhaustive investigation and aggressive prosecution. The January subpoena and FBI investigation signal enforcement has begun. Whether the documentary trail supports criminal prosecution under FARA, material support for terrorism, or tax fraud statutes will determine if federal authorities can dismantle what they view as foreign-funded domestic agitation operating through tax-exempt nonprofits. Bruner showed the administration where the money flows. The question is whether law enforcement can prove the connections run through Shanghai to organizations coordinating protests on American streets.
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