Code Pink has filed an ethics complaint against Sen. Josh Hawley, accusing him of unethical and slanderous conduct for saying the anti-war protest group is funded with “blood money” from China.
The complaint stems from Mr. Hawley confronting a Code Pink protester in the halls of Congress last month.
“I think the U.S. ought to investigate your organization and maybe you for the money that you’ve taken from Chinese donors who are persecuting Uyghurs,” the Missouri Republican told the protester. “You love China. You take blood money from China. It’s simple.”
Code Pink strenuously objected to Mr. Hawley’s characterization of its finances.
“As we have officially stated multiple times, CODEPINK receives no money from China or any foreign government and is funded by individuals and through administrative grants for non-profits. CODEPINK has no contact with the Chinese Communist Party,” the organization said in a letter to the Senate Ethics Committee.
Jodie Evans, the co-founder of Code Pink, is married to Shanghai-based businessman and social activist Neville Roy Singham.
Mr. Singham says he does not work at the direction of the Chinese government, but two outlets of a media network he owns “spread China’s voice to the world,” according to a 2023 New York Times investigation.
Many donations to Code Pink have come from two groups linked to Mr. Singham.
Code Pink has also been criticized for echoing Chinese propaganda.
The Washington Times has reached out to Sen. Hawley’s office.
In 2023, House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Bruce Westerman, Arkansas Republican, sent a letter to Ms. Evans alerting her that the committee was looking into Code Pink’s finances as part of an investigation of the Chinese Communist Party manipulating U.S. nonprofits.
In April, Sen. Jim Banks, Indiana Republican, wrote a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi asking for an investigation of Code Pink because of “growing evidence of Code Pink’s deep connections with the CCP.”
Code Pink’s China is Not Our Enemy Campaign coordinator responded at the time by saying that the organization is “funded primarily by donations from concerned citizens that support peace over war.”
