CODEPINK peace group subjected to McCarthyite lies

On 25 March 2025, at a US Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on global threats, CODEPINK activist Tighe Barry stood up and called on the US government to stop funding Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Fanatical China hawk Senator Tom Cotton responded by labelling Barry as a “CODEPINK lunatic that was funded by the Communist Party of China”. Retired Colonel Ann Wright stood up and shouted “I’m a retired Army Colonel and former diplomat. I work with CODEPINK and it is not funded by Communist China.”

Both activists were ejected from the room and arrested. Cotton meanwhile proceeded with his McCarthyite diatribe: “The fact that Communist China funds CODEPINK, which interrupts a hearing about Israel illustrates Director Gabbard’s point that China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are working together in greater concert than they ever had before.”

The purpose of this narrative is to portray any opposition to US hegemonism and imperialism as being funded and fomented by foreign powers – just as in the 1950s and 60s, working class, progressive and anti-war activists were portrayed as Soviet agents.

We republish below an article about the incident by Ann Wright from CovertAction magazine, and a petition by CODEPINK, Senator Cotton: Stop Lying about Peace Activists!, which we encourage people to sign.

Senate Intelligence Committee Hearing Turns Ugly with McCarthy-Style Lies About CODEPINK: Women for Peace

On March 25, at the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on global threats with the five heads of intelligence agencies of the U.S. government, Senator Tom Cotton, accused on national TV a group I have worked with for over 20 years, CODEPINK: Women for Peace, of being funded by the Communist Party of China.

During the hearing CODEPINK activist Tighe Barry stood up following the presentation of the Director of National Security Tulsi Gabbard’s lengthy statement about global threats to U.S. national security and yelled “Stop Funding Israel.”

This was because neither Intelligence Committee Chair Tom Cotton and Vice Chair Mark Warner had mentioned Israel in their opening statement nor had Gabbard mentioned the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza in her statement either.

As Capitol police were taking Barry out of the hearing room, in the horrific style of the McCarthy hearings in the 1950s, Cotton maliciously said that Barry was a “CODEPINK lunatic that was funded by the Communist party of China.” 

Cotton then said if anyone had something to say to do so.   

Refusing to buckle or be intimidated by Cotton’s lies about the funding of CODEPINK, I stood up and yelled, “I’m a retired Army Colonel and former diplomat. I work with CODEPINK and it is not funded by Communist China.”  I too was hauled out of the hearing room by Capitol police and arrested.

After I was taken out of the hearing room, Cotton libelously continued his McCarty lie, “The fact that Communist China funds CODEPINK, which interrupts a hearing about Israel illustrates Director Gabbard’s point that China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are working together in greater concert than they ever had before.”

An arch war hawk who falsely claimed in campaign ads that he had earned a bronze star as a U.S. army Ramger, Senator Cotton clearly does not appreciate the responsibility he has in his one-month-old elevation to the chair of the Senate’s intelligence committee.

He does not seem to care that his untruthful statements in a U.S. Congressional hearing aired around the world can have immediate and dangerous consequences for those he lies about, their friends and family. 

In today’s polarized political environment we know that the words of senior leaders can rile supporters into frenzies as we saw on January 6, 2021 with President Trump’s loyal supporters injuring many Capitol police and destroying parts of the nation’s capitol building in their attempt to stop the Presidential election proceedings.

CODEPINK members have been challenging in the U.S. Congress the war policies of five presidential administrations, beginning in 2001 with the Bush wars on Afghanistan and Iraq, long before Senator Cotton was elected as a U.S. Senator in 2014. 

We have been in the U.S. Senate offices and halls twice as long as he has. We have nonviolently protested war policies of Bush, Obama, Trump, Biden and now Trump again.  

After getting out of the Capitol Hill police station, a CODEPINK delegation went to Senator Cotton’s office in the Russell Senate Office building and made a compliant to this office staff.

We have also submitted a complaint to the Senate Ethics Committee for the untrue and libelous statements Senator Cotton made in the hearing.

The abduction and deportation of international students who joined protests of U.S. complicity in the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and ethnic cleansing of the West Bank, the scathing treatment of visitors who have wanted to enter our country and now the McCarthy intimidating tactics used by Senator Cotton in a Senate intelligence committee hearing must be called out and pushed back against.

And we must push back against U.S. Senators who receive funding from front groups for other countries: Senator Cotton has received $1,197,989 from the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to advocate for the Israeli government’s genocidal policies. 

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Senator Cotton: Stop Lying about Peace Activists!

Dear Tom Cotton,

At the recent Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, peace activists from CODEPINK interrupted the proceedings to voice a major concern of the American people — we found it rather troubling that at a meeting about global threats, not a single person had mentioned Israel. Israel has led a nearly two year genocide on the people of Gaza, invaded Lebanon, bombed Iran, bombed Yemen, encroached into Syria, and violated numerous ceasefire deals. The activist’s message was clear: The greatest threat to global security is Israel, and the whole world knows it!

Without missing a beat — almost as if you’d practiced it — you addressed the American people watching live, pointedly labeled CODEPINK activists as “lunatics,” and started spewing lies that the women’s peace organization was funded by “Communist China.”

The truth? CODEPINK is not funded by China or by any foreign government. They are funded by tens of thousands of donors, mostly in small donations, out of gratitude for the work they do everyday to raise our voices against war and US imperialism. Protesting war and genocide is not supporting foreign interests. People who demonstrate against war and genocide are actually representing the values and concerns of the majority of U.S. Americans, who want our tax dollars invested in human life and dignity — not in war, death, and destruction. And unlike the Pentagon, CODEPINK regularly passes its audits. 

Despite having no evidence to support your claims, you persisted in your accusations, stating, “The fact that Communist China funds CODEPINK… illustrates Director Gabbard’s point that China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are working together in greater concert than they ever had before.” As far as insults go, this one was a bit lacking in originality, don’t you think? Your remarks, while reckless and ridiculous, resemble the dark and dangerous tactics of the McCarthy era, where unsubstantiated claims of foreign allegiances were used to silence dissent. 

You clearly do not appreciate the responsibility you’ve been handed in your one-month-old elevation to the chair of the Senate’s Intelligence Committee. Coming from an elected official like you, aired live on national television, these slanderous statements can have immediate and dangerous consequences for those being lied about, as well as their friends and family. People look to our leaders to stand for truth and justice, but instead you used your post to try and intimidate people who disagree with war — which happens to be a very popular sentiment in the United States. 

You have a responsibility to represent the people you were elected to serve. While people in your state of Arkansas struggle to make ends meet with rising grocery and housing prices — you spend your time trying to silence a movement of people that want better for themselves and people all around the world. 

We, the undersigned, call on you to formally retract your statement and stop spreading lies about activists, whoever they might be. We call on you to represent the popular anti-war opinion and stop villainizing people who just want peace.