CodePink D.C. Coordinator Olivia DiNucci last month posted a TikTok video of herself in a home supporting an issue far afield from her usual battles supporting the Communist Party of Cuba and the Islamic Republic of Iran.
asserted
DiNucci → post → Iran
This time, she was backing a local ballot measure, "Initiative 86," introduced in early February in the D.C. City Council to ban foie gras, a fine-dining delicacy made from duck liver, and other products made from birds.
asserted
she → back → birds
D.C. residents will vote on the measure on election day with early voting already started.
asserted
voting → vote → day
The campaign presents itself as a grassroots effort to advance animal welfare, but public financial filings reveal a far more heavily funded operation.
asserted
filings → present → operation
A national animal-rights network has supplied hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial support, underwriting paid petition circulators, political consultants, staff salaries and advertising in a campaign that could reshape Washington’s restaurant industry.
uncertain
that → supply → industry
Far from a shoestring local initiative, the effort has reported nearly half a million dollars in contributions and expenditures, much of it backed by an organization that openly describes local ballot measures as stepping stones toward a broader "pro-animal future."
asserted
that → report → future
A Fox News Digital investigation of campaign-finance records, nonprofit filings and the groups’ own organizing documents traces the people, money and long-term strategy behind Initiative 86 and raises questions about how a fight over one luxury menu item became part of a much larger political campaign over what Americans eat.
Pro-Animal Future, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit based in Portland, Ore., launched the campaign, nicknamed I-86, in D.C. and says its local ballot efforts are part of a broader push to change public attitudes toward common animal agricultural practices.
asserted
efforts → trace → practices
Its IRS filing also lists its name as Pro-Animal DC.
asserted
filing → list → DC
In seven financial reports filed with the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance, Pro-Animal DC provides a window into a local political campaign’s operational, financial and logistical infrastructure.
asserted
DC → file → infrastructure
According to its latest filings, Pro-Animal DC collected a whopping $474,190.62 between Sept. 23, 2025, and Oct. 26, 2026, for the local campaign, with Pro-Animal Future as its major backer, providing it $386,435.77.
uncertain
DC → accord → 386,435.77
Its largest expense is stipends totaling $126,780.36, or about one-quarter of the campaign’s expenses, to a paid professional protest organizer: Cady Witt, whose LinkedIn profile lists her as "community impact coordinator" at "DC Voters for Animals."
asserted
profile → total → Animals
Witt is also listed as the treasurer of Pro-Animal DC in its campaign reports.
asserted
Witt → list → reports
Pro-Animal DC reported another $89,224.00, or about 20% of its expenses, for 293 payments to 64 people described as "consultant - circulator" from September 2025 through October 26, 2026.
asserted
DC → report → October
They got an average payment of $1,394.13 per person.
asserted
They → get → person
CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans is married to an American-born, China-based tech tycoon, Neville Roy Singham, whose funding of activist groups has drawn scrutiny from congressional lawmakers and is the subject of a federal investigation.
asserted
funding → bear → investigation
Pro Animal Future said CodePink doesn’t have a role in its campaign beyond DiNucci’s appearance in her TikTok video.
asserted
CodePink → say → video
Pro-Animal Future alleges that birds are "force fed" to gain the weight needed to produce foie gras, and it says its campaigns seek to end "force-feeding" birds and shift public views on animal agriculture.
asserted
campaigns → allege → agriculture
According to its latest available IRS 990 tax filing, Pax Fauna, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Denver, says it’s related to Pro-Animal Future, which it described as doing "lobbying" work.
uncertain
it → accord → work
In 2024, Pax Fauna outlined a 10-year roadmap to build local ballot campaigns and eventually pursue statewide "factory-farming" bans and establish "animal freedom."
asserted
Fauna → outline → freedom
The roadmap called such measures a way to "provoke a sort of identity crisis for the voting public" and "storm the nation".
asserted
roadmap → call → nation
The group sought to launch as many as 10 local chapters during the 2025-2026 election cycle.
asserted
group → seek → cycle
An anonymous purchaser bought the web domain ProAnimalDC.org in April 2025, according to online records.
uncertain
purchaser → buy → records
Today, Pro-Animal Future lists its current campaigns as running in D.C. and Denver and says it worked with Portland’s City Council to ban foie gras sales this past June.
asserted
it → list → sales
Pax Fauna’s founders said they have spent years organizing with Direct Action Everywhere, an animal-rights 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Berkeley, Ca.
asserted
they → say → Berkeley
Last year, according to its filings, Pro-Animal Future spent $7,703.70 for Airbnb accommodations.
uncertain
Future → accord → accommodations
This year, on July 31, it spent $22,418.69 for Airbnb accommodations.
asserted
it → spend → accommodations
Pro-Animal DC has stated that the lodging was for about 60 out-of-town "volunteers" who came to Washington, D.C., in July for a signature-gathering effort called "Goosapalooza."
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who → state → effort
On its website, it promoted the "free housing."
asserted
it → promote → housing
The measure’s language has raised questions about how far the ban could reach.
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ban → raise → questions
Its definition of a "fattened bird liver product" covers food or byproducts made from birds’ livers when the birds were fattened "through any method or practice," and specifically lists pâtés, spreads and processed meat products as products to be banned.
asserted
birds → fatten → products
The initiative separately defines "force-feeding" as causing a bird to eat more than it would voluntarily consume.
asserted
it → define → more
Former D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine told City Cast DC, a local media outlet, that the text "includes le poulet," which means chicken in French.
asserted
which → tell → French
Jon Mandel, an attorney and former D.C. Council legislative staffer, told the same outlet, that the sales provision could reach poultry-liver products made without force-feeding.
uncertain
provision → tell → feeding
Pro-Animal Future spokeswoman Natalie Fulton told City Cast DC the campaign isn’t trying to ban chicken and "is about foie gras."
asserted
campaign → tell → gras
She added that the D.C. Council could clarify the language if voters approve the measure.
uncertain
voters → add → measure
However, restaurants in the district who serve the delicacy aren't buying what activists are selling.
asserted
activists → serve → what
Bart Hutchins, chef and co-owner of Butterworth’s, a Capitol Hill restaurant popular with Trump administration members, raised a similar concern in an interview with Fox News Digital.
asserted
Hutchins → raise → Digital
"Realistically that could ban at least 20 products that I can think of right off the top of my head that aren’t foie gras," he said.
uncertain
he → ban → head
Hutchins said his restaurant would consider legal challenges if the measure passes.
asserted
measure → say → challenges
Hutchins sees the initiative as part of a broader effort to restrict what Americans can eat.
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Americans → see → what
…and 31 more, not listed.
The Aporia
