CodePink co-founder Medea Benjamin's family foundation became a major financial backer of a network of left-wing activist organizations over more than two decades, providing nearly $3.2 million to CodePink while also bankrolling protest groups, legal advocacy organizations and progressive nonprofits, a Fox News Digital investigation found.
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investigation → become → groups
The foundation, Arc of Justice, is a $54.6 million private foundation formerly known as The Benjamin Fund.
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foundation → know → Fund
A review of its complete IRS filing history found it made nearly 1,500 grants totaling about $24.6 million to organizations involved in anti-war activism, progressive policy, legal advocacy and campaigns involving immigration enforcement, China, Cuba and the Israel-Hamas war.
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it → find → enforcement
Among its largest recipients were CodePink, Global Exchange, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Grassroots International and Social Good Fund, alongside grants to dozens of other organizations involved in anti-war activism, progressive policy, legal advocacy and progressive media.
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CodePink → involve → activism
Arc of Justice provided CodePink more than twice the approximately $1.33 million the group received from the funding network linked to Shanghai-based Marxist tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham.
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group → provide → Singham
A previous five-part Fox News Digital investigation found Singham's network directed at least $278 million into organizations that promoted pro-China messaging.
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that → find → messaging
Arc of Justice has come under scrutiny after California revoked its charitable registration following years of financial compliance failures, though the foundation has been working to regain its standing with California regulators.
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foundation → come → regulators
Benjamin, who co-founded CodePink with Singham’s wife Jodie Evans, has remained one of the group's most visible public faces, frequently leading protests and interrupting congressional hearings.
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founded → co → hearings
On Tuesday, she was escorted from a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee hearing on alleged foreign malign influence after protesting during the proceedings.
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she → escort → proceedings
The Fox News Digital investigation also found the foundation itself has undergone sweeping changes in recent months, with Benjamin stepping down from the board, new leadership taking over and the organization saying it intends to chart a different course for its charitable giving.
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it → find → giving
Following the money
Arc of Justice began funding CodePink in 2009 and provided grants to the organization in 15 tax years through 2024, totaling $3,195,280.
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Arc → follow → 3,195,280
According to the documents, CodePink was Arc of Justice's largest activist beneficiary.
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CodePink → accord → Justice
Since 2009, the foundation and its predecessor, The Benjamin Fund, also directed about $2.05 million to Global Exchange, the anti-war and social justice advocacy group Benjamin co-founded with her former husband, Kevin Danaher, which has long campaigned against U.S. military intervention and economic sanctions.
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which → direct → intervention
Arc of Justice also provided about $2.24 million to Grassroots International, which funds grassroots social movements around the world; $1.61 million to Social Good Fund, which provides nonprofit infrastructure and fundraising support for charitable projects; about $1.29 million to the Center for Constitutional Rights, a legal advocacy organization; and about $114,000 to Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), an activist nonprofit.
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which → provide → Justice
AFGJ has drawn scrutiny over its past fiscal sponsorship of Samidoun, a pro-Palestinian activist group later sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury.
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AFGJ → draw → Treasury
Benjamin said Arc's final grant to Alliance for Global Justice was $10,000 in 2022 and that the foundation "was not aware of any specific groups fiscally sponsored by AFGJ" when it made its grants.
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it → say → grants
Through attorney David Levitt, the foundation said both CodePink and Alliance for Global Justice were recognized by the IRS as tax-exempt public charities and that Arc was entitled to rely on that status when making its grants.
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Arc → say → grants
The grantmaking reached across a much broader activist network.
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grantmaking → reach → network
Since 2009, IRS filings reviewed by Fox News Digital show Arc of Justice and its predecessor gave about $492,000 to World Beyond War, roughly $255,000 to the Institute for Policy Studies and about $124,000 to Jewish Voice for Peace.
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Arc → review → Peace
It also gave $110,000 to Grassroots Global Justice and about $90,000 to the Center for Popular Democracy.
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It → give → Democracy
IRS filings also show Arc of Justice and its predecessor provided about $65,500 to Democracy Now! since 2009, where Benjamin has frequently appeared as a guest over the years.
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Benjamin → show → years
WATCH: CodePink activists questioned on motives ahead of foreign influence hearing
From funding to activism
Founded in 2002 with the aim of preventing the Iraq War, CodePink has grown into one of the country's most visible anti-war protest groups, repeatedly disrupting congressional hearings and protests involving senior U.S. officials, including then-Secretaries of State John Kerry and Mike Pompeo.
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CodePink → watch → Kerry
The group has also participated in nationwide No Kings protests, opposed ICE enforcement actions, organized anti-Israel rallies, campaigned against U.S. policy toward China, Cuba and Iran.
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group → participate → China
Earlier this year CodePink led a delegation to Cuba that included Twitch political streamer Hasan Piker.
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that → lead → Piker
Asked about Arc's long-term funding of CodePink and other activist organizations, Matthew Johnson, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, said sustained financial support can have an impact well beyond the dollar amounts involved.
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support → ask → amounts
"Small amounts of money can actually go a long way toward impacting the broader media ecosystem...
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amounts → go → ecosystem
from the perspective of political organization, they may be having an outsized impact on the kind of information that is available to Americans," Johnson told Fox News Digital.
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Johnson → have → Digital
Johnson, who testified before Congress Tuesday about how foreign adversaries may use nonprofits and other organizations to shape U.S. public opinion and policy, told lawmakers that CodePink launched its "China Is Not Our Enemy" campaign in 2020 following meetings in Beijing and has since pursued China-focused advocacy and organized travel.
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China → testify → advocacy
The campaign argued the United States should pursue cooperation with Beijing rather than confrontation.
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States → argue → confrontation
CodePink and Benjamin have denied taking direction from the Chinese government.
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CodePink → deny → government
Heritage Foundation senior fellow confronts CodePink's Medea Benjamin before House hearing
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fellow → confront → hearing
Benjamin told Fox News Digital the grants were intended to support CodePink's anti-war work.
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grants → tell → work
"The foundation's donations to CodePink were made to support its anti-war work," she said in an email response.
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she → make → response
At the House hearing on Tuesday, Benjamin also rejected suggestions that she or CodePink took direction from foreign governments.
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she → reject → governments
"I've been an anti-war activist from the days of Vietnam," Benjamin said.
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Benjamin → say → Vietnam
"I never had a foreign government tell me what to do."
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government → have → what
Singham and the organizations he has funded identified in the Fox News Digital report have denied taking direction from the Chinese government, and neither Singham, Benjamin, nor the organizations have been charged with wrongdoing.
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Singham → fund → wrongdoing
Where did the money come from?
Arc of Justice was formerly known as The Benjamin Fund, Inc., with California corporate records showing the foundation formally changed its name in November 2019.
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foundation → come → November
Benjamin's father, Alvin Benjamin, a prominent Long Island real estate developer who founded The Benjamin Companies in the early 1960s, provided some of the foundation's earliest documented financial backing.
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who → found → backing
The Benjamin Fund's initial 2003 IRS return shows he contributed a partnership interest valued at $683,715 to the foundation, with Medea Susan Benjamin serving as president.
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Benjamin → show → president
…and 30 more, not listed.
The Aporia
