Timothy Mellon, heir to the Mellon banking fortune, has been confirmed as the top donor to Super PACs supporting both Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., according to an analysis by Snopes of Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. This information was initially reported by Newsweek in February 2024 and gained additional attention through a promotion by former CBS News anchor Dan Rather on Facebook in March 2024.
Super PACs are allowed to receive unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions, and other PACs for financing independent political activities, as long as these are not directly coordinated with any political campaign. The connection between Mellon’s funding of both the Trump-aligned Make America Great Again Inc. and the Kennedy-aligned American Values PAC was also highlighted on a billboard in Grand Rapids, Michigan, sponsored by the Democratic National Convention in February 2024.
FEC filings reveal that Mellon donated $5 million to MAGA Inc. and an equal amount to American Values PAC in January 2024. Over the course of 2023, Mellon contributed a total of $15 million to American Values during Kennedy Jr.’s campaign as both a Democratic and independent presidential candidate. His donations to MAGA Inc. amounted to $10 million in the second half of the same year, making him the largest individual contributor to both Super PACs.
Americans for Prosperity Inc. has spent more in support of Trump or against his opponents than MAGA Inc., but it does not depend on individual donors to the same extent. Mellon’s $10 million contribution to MAGA Inc. from August 2023 to January 2024 marks him as the Super PAC’s most significant donor.
American Values, identified as the only pro-Kennedy Super PAC in FEC records at the time of reporting, received $20 million from Mellon from April 2023 to January 2024.
In addition to his contributions to these presidential campaigns, Mellon has also donated to other PACs participating in the 2024 election cycle, including “Fair Courts America” and the Congressional Leadership Fund, which aims to elect Republicans to the House of Representatives.
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