FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The leftist activist group Code Pink should lose its tax-exempt status for engaging in potentially illegal activity, violating tax rules against engaging in prohibited political activity and excess lobbying activity, and for supporting the interests of China without properly registering with the Department of Justice, a conservative group said in a letter to the IRS.
The Center to Advance Security in America “filed a request for review with the IRS of the tax-exempt status of Code Pink, an extreme organization that regularly engages in potentially illegal activities, including vandalism, blockades of U.S. military facilities, and regularly disrupting federal proceedings,” CASA Director James Fitzpatrick told The Daily Signal in a statement Tuesday.
“Code Pink is also intertwined in an opaque global network of nonprofit funding with ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” he added. “They engage in violent antisemitic demonstrations and have even appeared with individuals waving the flag of Hezbollah.”
“The American people demand an immediate investigation into this urgent matter,” Fitzpatrick concluded. “Hard-earned tax dollars should not be spent funding organizations that may be refusing to adhere to the law.”
The letter, exclusively provided to The Daily Signal, outlines CASA’s “serious concerns about Code Pink’s (non) compliance with federal law.”
Illegal Activity?
CASA’s complaint notes that Code Pink has “regularly engaged in potentially illegal activity that should negate its tax-exempt status.”
Police have repeatedly arrested the group’s members for “disrupting official government proceedings” and for “blockades of military facilities.”
Code Pink activists often interrupt congressional hearings, leading police to escort them out and arrest them. The organization has promoted such arrests on its website. Code Pink promoted an allied organization’s use of a “human blockade” to prevent the transit of supplies from Travis Air Force Base last June, among other actions.
The CASA complaint cites the IRS’ 1985 explanation for why tax-exempt organizations may lose their status if they engage in illegal activity.
“Because benefit to the public is an underlying justification for charitable tax benefits, organizations which increase governmental burdens cannot justify taxation,” the IRS said. “Organizations engaged in illegal activity increase the governmental burden of law enforcement.”
Code Pink Lobbying
The complaint also claims that Code Pink engages in substantial direct lobbying, in violation of the requirements for tax-exempt status under 501(c)(3). While the IRS code allows such organizations to raise concerns and draw attention to issues, it forbids them from telling people how to vote.
Yet, the complaint states that “Code Pink regularly hosts calling parties, events during which members and other attendees are aided and encouraged in reaching out to their elected officials to influence both issues and specific legislation.”
Code Pink hosted a “calling party” on April 15, 2025, which CASA claims urged members to tell their representatives to sponsor House Joint Resolution 86. In 2019, Code Pink asked its members to urge their senators to cosponsor a bill blocking any potential war with Iran.
A Chinese Foreign Agent?
The complaint also raises concerns that Code Pink may have violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act by working with agents of the Chinese Communist Party and on behalf of China’s interests.
The report noted that Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans had criticized China’s authoritarian government, but changed her tune after marrying multimillionaire Neville Roy Singham, a U.S. citizen currently living in Shanghai, in 2017.
The New York Times exposed Singham’s global network of nonprofit funding and deep ties to the Chinese Communist Party in 2023. This network has mobilized protests against President Donald Trump’s removal of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and Operation Epic Fury in Iran. In January, the House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena Singham.
Representatives of this network met with Cuba’s Communist Politburo last month.
Evans reportedly took part in a meeting between the International Committee of the Democratic Socialists of America and the Chinese Communist Party, in which the DSA agreed to take pro-China positions.
The complaint quotes Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who also urged an investigation into Code Pink. Grassley noted that Code Pink appears to have been “funded and influenced” by Singham and the CCP. He also noted that Code Pink appears to have engaged in “political activities that directly advance the Communist Chinese government’s political and policy interests.”
The complaint notes that withdrawing Code Pink’s tax-exempt status would not violate the First Amendment, because it would be a response to Code Pink’s violations of law, not discrimination for its viewpoint.
“Social justice activism is a healthy part of this country’s political environment, but to qualify for and retain the congressionally granted privilege of tax-exempt status there are limits, which Code Pink may be intentionally disregarding,” the complaint states.
The Daily Signal has reached out to the IRS and to Code Pink for comment, and will update this story with any response.
