Singham-linked nonprofits defy House ultimatum, blast 'MAGA-led witch hunt'

Two nonprofits linked to Marxist tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham have rejected a congressional ultimatum to turn over financial records, accusing lawmakers of using a foreign-influence investigation to target their political views and violate their First Amendment rights.

The People's Forum Inc., a New York City-based activist hub, and BreakThrough News, a far-left nonprofit media outlet, fired back in letters to Tuesday the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, which threatened to depose their leaders — and Singham personally — if the organizations failed to comply with earlier subpoenas for financial records.

The People's Forum blasted the latest congressional crackdown as a "MAGA-led witch hunt."

BreakThrough News and its supporters accuse the committee of targeting the outlet over its coverage of Israel and immigration enforcement, while lawmakers maintain the probe concerns the organizations' finances and structure.

HOUSE PANEL WARNS SINGHAM-LINKED NONPROFITS: COMPLY WITH SUBPOENAS OR FACE CONGRESS

The showdown comes as the Republican-led committee, headed by Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., investigates whether millions of dollars flowing through Singham's network of tax-exempt nonprofits are being used to advance Chinese Communist Party interests in the United States.

"This approach is tantamount to holding the staff of BreakThrough News hostage," attorneys for BreakThrough News wrote in their Oct. 20 response, accusing the committee of threatening seven newsroom employees with depositions unless the outlet abandons its constitutional objections.

The attorneys also challenged the committee's foreign influence allegations, pointing to its reference to Singham, who lives in Shanghai, alongside foreign principals.

"Mr. Singham is a U.S. citizen," the attorneys wrote.

The standoff raises the prospect of Singham being personally deposed by congressional investigators after the committee identified him among 21 potential witnesses, including nonprofit executives, activists and journalists associated with the two organizations and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, a Massachusetts-based Marxist think tank that has not publicly released a response to the latest demands.

The People's Forum similarly condemned the committee's latest demands in its Oct. 20 response, accusing lawmakers of using the threat of depositions against eight staff members as retaliation for asserting its First Amendment rights.

The committee did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

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On their websites, BreakThrough News and The People's Forum also urged supporters to donate to help fund their legal defenses against the probe.

"This is an escalation of the same MAGA-led witch-hunt," The People's Forum wrote in an Oct. 21 statement beneath a black graphic declaring, "We won't surrender our First Amendment rights."

Both organizations also accused the committee of repeatedly changing its rationale and ignoring their legal objections but said they remained open to narrower requests.

The responses come as BreakThrough News has also been accuse