Other PNȚ men and women were by then involved in the establishment of an armed anti-communist resistance. Founded by three "Ardealul" volunteers in 1944, the group "Haiducii lui Avram Iancu" asked Maniu for assistance. It received no such endorsement, although communist prosecutors would claim that it and all other such units were financed by the party leadership. General Aurel Aldea, who spoke for "Haiducii", had credentials as an adversary of the Iron Guard, but also viewed the PNȚ as inefficient and unpatriotic. In early 1945, some PNȚ members had affiliated with the National Resistance Movement, operated by a dissident Iron Guard member, George Manu. Its democratic and fascist wings remained generally hostile to one another. Maniu was still "reluctant to collaborate" with various resistance groups, "since many manifested anti-Semitic and ultra-nationalist sentiments." From April 1946, PNȚ men networked in Suceava County between the "Sumanele Negre" partisans and an American envoy, Ira Hamilton. This and various other resistance units took in members of the Peasant Guards. In June, the US Central Intelligence Group worked with the PNȚ to set up a sleeper network, tasked with opening up a second front in case of a Soviet attack on Turkey. The local organization was infiltrated by the Soviets and soon after repressed. "Dreptatea" still published regular praise of the Soviet Union, but did so on the advice of American envoys, and hoping to ensure the party's survival under occupation.