Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) confronted a Code Pink activist in a hallway Wednesday, accusing the anti-war group of taking “blood money from China” and calling the organization a “human rights violator,” as reported by The Independent Journal Review.

“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,” Hawley said, according to a video obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The exchange began when the activist asked the senator whether he supported regime change in Venezuela. Hawley responded by referencing a New York Times report that detailed links between Code Pink and donors tied to the Chinese government.

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“I’m pro-Israel. You hate Israel,” Hawley said during the exchange. “You love China. You take blood money from China. It’s simple.”

The activist denied the accusation, calling it a “lie.” Code Pink has repeatedly denied receiving funds from China or any foreign government.

“To state it very clearly: CODEPINK is in no way funded by China, nor any other foreign government or agency,” the group’s China Is Not Our Enemy campaign coordinator wrote in April. “We are funded primarily by donations from concerned citizens that support peace over war.”

A 2023 New York Times investigation reported that roughly a quarter of Code Pink’s donations since 2017 were tied to groups connected to Neville Roy Singham, a wealthy American businessman with strong affiliations to Chinese state media and government-backed organizations.

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Republicans in Congress have called for investigations into the group’s alleged connections.

In April, Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi urging the Department of Justice to examine what he described as “growing evidence of Code Pink’s deep connections” to the Chinese Communist Party.

“Code Pink routinely lobbies for conciliatory U.S. policies on China and aggressively denies reports of CCP atrocities, including the CCP’s genocide against the Uyghur people in Xinjiang,” Banks wrote.

“In January 2025, Code Pink acknowledged that it had organized a 10-day ‘community trip’ to Xinjiang—presumably on a tightly controlled itinerary staged by the Chinese government.”

As the exchange concluded, Hawley continued pressing the activist on Code Pink’s funding. “You don’t have the moral decency to admit to yourself that you take blood money, that you are funded by foreign groups who are persecuting minorities, Christians, Muslims,” he said.

“You’re wearing a Palestinian flag, which tells you everything you need to know, while you take this money from China. You are morally reprehensible.”

Code Pink has not issued an official response to Hawley’s remarks.

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