Summer Lee

Twitch streamer Hasan Piker was reportedly subpoenaed by the U.S. Treasury Department over a March trip to Cuba.

Piker and activist Medea Benjamin have both stated they have not actually received subpoenas despite the reports.

Piker recently appeared at a campaign event with Rep. Summer Lee, drawing criticism from pro-Israel groups and Jewish politicians.

A little more than a month after he appeared at a campaign event in Michigan with Congresswoman Summer Lee (D-PA), leftist Twitch streamer Hasan Piker was subpoenaed by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control over his March trip to Cuba, according to multiple reports.

Piker, who goes by HasanAbi on the streaming platform Twitch, where he has 3.1 million followers, was subpoenaed alongside Medea Benjamin, cofounder of the feminist, anti-war nonprofit Code Pink: Women for Peace, according to a May 23 report from Fox News.

On a May 23 X repost of the outlet's article, Piker slammed the move.

"(T)he american govt would rather try to criminalize delivering aid to a country we’ve starved, than punish the epstein class," he said.

The report came a little more than a month after the Los Angeles-based streamer appeared alongside Lee and a number of other speakers at a campaign event for U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed at University of Michigan. Lee's appearance with Piker drew backlash from her Jewish colleagues and StandWithUs, a pro-Israel advocacy organization, with all condemning Piker as antisemitic.

Lee was elected in 2022 to Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, which covers a large part of Pittsburgh, including Squirrell Hill, a historically Jewish community. She won the Democratic primary for the seat on May 19, beating challenger William Parker.

Here's what to know.

Who is Hasan Piker?

Piker, a Turkish American leftist Twitch streamer who commentates on political topics, has drawn ire from both sides of the aisle. In his streams, he often says he is opposed to Zionism but defends the rights of Jewish people, but both Democrats and Republicans have slammed him as antisemitic. He's made a number of inflammatory comments, saying that "America deserved 9/11" and telling livestream viewers that it "doesn’t matter if rape happened on October 7th. It doesn’t change the dynamic for me," according to reporting by City & State Pennsylvania.

Piker has also faced government scrutiny before. In May 2025, he said he was stopped and questioned by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport following a trip to France, according to NBC News.

Despite report, Piker, Benjamin say they have not received subpoenas

While Fox News reported on May 23 that Piker and Benjamin had both received subpoenas seeking financial, logistical and communications information about humanitarian trips both made to Cuba with Nuestra América Convoy in March, Piker said on May 24 that he hadn't gotten a subpoena, according to HuffPost.

He also said during a Twitch livestream the same day that the trip had been cleared with the Office of Foreign Assets Control beforehand, HuffPost reported.

Benjamin also told HuffPost she had not been served a subpoena as of May 24.

Lee and Piker appear together in April ahead of PA primary election

On April 7, University of Michigan hosted a campaign rally for El-Sayed, drawing about 500 students while online viewers watched via a Twitch livestream, according to The Michigan Daily. Speakers included Piker; Lee; Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI.); Amir Makled, a University of Michigan Board of Regents candidate; Ann Arbor mayoral candidate Yousef Rabhi; and LSA sophomore Summit Louth, the University’s Central Student Government president.

During a rally, Lee emphasized the importance of voters' collective power, The Michigan Daily reported.

"Right now, I’m not asking you here to believe in us," Lee said. "I’m asking you to vote for us. But I am saying that I need you to believe in you. I need you to believe in how powerful we are as a collective."

PA officials, pro-Israel advocacy organization lambaste Lee's appearance with Piker

State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Pittsburgh) and State Sen. Judy Schwank (D-Reading), cochairs of the PA Legislative Jewish Caucus, released a statement together condemning Lee's appearance with Piker, saying Piker has "repeatedly trafficked in antisemitic statements."

"At a time when Jewish communities are facing rising threats and harassment, public officials have an obligation to be unequivocal about the voices they elevate and the company they keep," they said in the April 6 statement posted to X. "Two years ago, Rep. Lee agreed to withdraw from a fundraising event that would have placed her on a stage with speakers known for extremist and antisemitic rhetoric. It is not too late to make that same choice again, refusing to legitimize intolerance."

Following the event, StandWithUs lambasted Lee for appearing with Piker in a lengthy statement posted to their website.

"At a time when antisemitism is rising to record levels, it has never been more important for our elected officials to take a firm stance against any figures who may be promoting or amplifying antisemitic and anti-Zionist messaging," said StandWithUs Mid-Atlantic Regional Director Julie Paris. "Representative Summer Lee’s decision to campaign alongside Piker sends a message to her constituents that she does not represent all of us. In her role as a leader in Congress, she has a responsibility to represent her Jewish, Zionist, and Israeli constituents just as she would any others."

Lee defends appearance, says she remains 'unequivocal' in condemning hate

Lee defended appearing alongside Piker in a statement to City & State Pennsylvania ahead of the event.

"At a moment when Donald Trump is threatening catastrophic violence against Iran and saying 'a whole civilization will die tonight,' our priorities are deeply out of step if this is what some choose to focus on," she said. "We need to invite young people in, take them seriously, and recognize that our politics are strongest when everyday people have a real hand in shaping them."

She added that she would "continue showing up to speak with young people about the issues defining their lives and futures, and I will continue to be unequivocal in condemning Islamophobia, racism, antisemitism and all forms of hate."

"If reporters have questions about Hasan Piker’s statements, they should ask Hasan Piker," Lee said. "I’m focused on reaching young people and bringing more people into a democratic process that too often pushes them away."

In 2024, Lee backed out of an engagement with a Muslim group following backlash regarding other speakers' antisemitic and homophobic comments, according to Politico.

"I wanted to join this event with other members of Congress and elected officials to support our Muslim neighbors, in the Commonwealth and across the country, who are desperate to be heard by their own elected officials and feel supported at a time of rising anti-Muslim hate and violence," she said. "I do not condone or endorse any of the other speakers’ previous comments."