Digital Library
Following the Benjamins: How a $48 Million Foundation Operated an Iran-Aligned Influence Network Outside State Oversight in Florida
Topic:
Antisemitism & Antizionism
Principal Investigators:
Study Date:
2026
Source:
Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI)
Key Findings:
NCRI argues that Arc of Justice, formerly Benjamin Fund Inc., functioned as a major financial node in a foreign-facing activist network with links to Iran-aligned, Cuba-linked, and other foreign influence ecosystems. The report states that the foundation held nearly $48 million in assets as of FY2022, operated from a Miami address, and funded organizations including CodePink, AFGJ, and NIAC, while allegedly lacking Florida charitable registration, facing California regulatory action, and missing multiple federal filings from public repositories.
The report’s central claim is that the problem is not only ideological alignment but regulatory opacity. NCRI says Arc of Justice directed at least $1.7 million to CodePink while its controlling officer, Medea Benjamin, also led CodePink. It further connects Benjamin and CodePink to sustained contact with Iranian state-linked institutions, including 61 documented outbound calls from OFAC-sanctioned Press TV, a 2019 meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and earlier participation in a Tehran conference later designated by OFAC as an IRGC-Qods Force intelligence recruitment platform.
The report also highlights CodePink’s Gaza and Cuba-related activity. NCRI describes prior contacts with Hamas officials, including the delivery of a Hamas-drafted letter to President Obama and a 2012 meeting with Ismail Haniyeh. On Cuba, the report says CodePink organized recurring aid delegations and convoys through ICAP, Cuba’s official foreign-solidarity body, including a March 2026 convoy from Miami that delivered medical supplies and was received by Cuban officials.
Overall, the report presents Arc of Justice as an example of how nonprofit funding, fiscal sponsorship, activist organizing, and foreign-linked messaging can overlap in ways that are difficult for ordinary state and federal oversight systems to track. Its core recommendation is coordinated regulatory review across state charity regulators, the IRS, DOJ/FARA, and Treasury/OFAC.
Methodology:
The report is an investigative analysis based on public records, nonprofit filings, regulatory databases, screenshots, archived webpages, social media posts, prior NCRI datasets, government sanctions/designation records, and organizational materials from CodePink, Arc of Justice/Benjamin Fund, and related entities. NCRI connects financial records, state registration status, IRS filing history, organizational relationships, Press TV call-detail data from its earlier Hidden Switchboard report, and documented travel/delegation activity involving Iran, Gaza, and Cuba. The report does not present a survey or experimental study; it is an open-source intelligence and regulatory-risk analysis.