Overview
- Sen. Tom Cotton sent a formal letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche urging a DOJ investigation into what he calls a covert campaign to block U.S. data centers and AI projects, a move reported June 10 by multiple outlets.
- Cotton cites a May report from the Bitcoin Policy Institute that documents three lines of influence—Chinese state media, foreign-funded advocacy groups, and a network tied to Neville Roy Singham—that share messaging opposing data-center buildouts.
- Reporting has identified large sums routed to Singham-linked nonprofits and overlapping narratives on energy and environmental harms, but analysts cited in the coverage say those links do not prove direct operational control by the Chinese government.
- The request follows active congressional scrutiny and legislative moves such as Cotton’s DATA Act of 2026, which would let data centers build independent power systems, and could lead to greater FARA and tax scrutiny of advocacy groups.
- Local fights over electricity use and costs drive much of the opposition to data centers, a reality that observers say can be amplified by outside funding and messaging and that has pushed some Bitcoin miners to repurpose facilities for AI computing.