Food Trade Groups and Koch Think Tank Fund Berman Advocacy

As a Richard Berman-linked nonprofit launches another advertising blitz targeting the Humane Society of the United States, the Center for Public Integrity examines the Washington, D.C., public-relations executive’s network of advocacy groups and their sources of financial support.

As have past campaigns by HumaneWatch.org, a Web site affiliated with Mr. Berman’s nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom, new ads on Washington. D.C., subway trains accuse the society of misleading donors into thinking their gifts are funding local animal shelters. The charity has denied the charge and contends Mr. Berman’s groups are fronts for the food industry, which opposes its efforts to reform how farm animals are treated.

Neither Mr. Berman’s nonprofits nor his public-relations company, which reaps fees from the advocacy groups, reveal their donors or clients. Using other sources, the Center for Public Integrity identified several supporters, including the International Dairy Foods Association and the Grocery Manufacturers Association, and Institute for Humane Studies, a libertarian policy center chaired by billionaire industrialist and political donor Charles Koch.

Mr. Berman did not return phone calls seeking comment for the article.

Read a Chronicle of Philanthropy article about the feud between Humane Society and Mr. Berman’s advocacy network.