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Meet Tim Mellon, the donor who gave millions to outside groups supporting Trump and RFK Jr. [1]

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Date: 2024-03-03

The ad, paid for by the Democratic National Committee, was put up in Grand Rapids, Mich., in early February ahead of a Kennedy campaign swing in the state to highlight Mellon, a wealthy heir and political donor, and his multimillion dollar contributions to outside groups backing Kennedy, an independent candidate for president, and Trump, the likely Republican nominee. The donations prompted Democrats to accuse Mellon of propping up Kennedy as an obstacle for President Biden in the presidential election.

WASHINGTON — On the left of the billboard, a smiling Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears to be speaking into a microphone. On the right, a scowling former president Trump looks out into the distance. The words “Powered by MAGA” are written in bold letters between them followed by, “Same biggest donor Timothy Mellon.”

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Mellon declined to comment for this article.

Mellon once owned New England-based Pan Am Systems Inc. and its subsidiary Pan Am Railways. A member of a storied family and fortune, he has quietly played an influential role in national politics, which has led to increased scrutiny of his political views, including on race.

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While he is no stranger to politics — he has contributed millions to mostly conservative political groups and causes in recent years — he shuns the spotlight and glad-handing that can come with it.

“He doesn’t come to all the Washington political balls and gatherings,” said David McIntosh, president of the conservative Club for Growth. Club for Growth’s political arm has not been one of the recipients of Mellon’s generosity; McIntosh said he has not met him.

For many in political circles, even among Republicans, his name was met with reactions ranging from recent recognition, due to his role as a donor this presidential election cycle, to no recognition at all.

“The name doesn’t even ring [a bell],” said former Texas congresswoman Mayra Flores, whose congressional campaign received a donation from him in 2022.

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Even in New England, where he lived and did business for years, there was little recognition of Mellon. In addition to the business he did in the area, Mellon attended Yale and lived in Connecticut; he now lives in Wyoming.

“I’ve never come across him,” said Mike Dennehy, a former executive director of the New Hampshire Republican Party.

“I’ve never met him. No idea,” said Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist with years of New Hampshire political experience.

Among those he has given to repeatedly, there’s reluctance to speak about him. The Senate Leadership Fund and Congressional Leadership Fund, outside groups focused on electing Republicans to the Senate and House of Representatives respectively, did not answer questions about the role he’s played in their efforts. He has given major donations to both. Make America Great Again Inc., a super PAC that backs Trump and which Mellon has donated to, did not answer questions about Mellon.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spoke at a festival hosted by a libertarian group in Lancaster, N.H., last June. RYAN DAVID BROWN/NYT

Mellon’s family fortune goes back for generations and was made through banking and investment; Forbes ranks the family the 34th richest in America. He served on the Mellon Foundation board for more than two decades, until he resigned in 2002, according to the foundation’s annual report from that year. And while he has a long history of political donations, his biggest contributions were made in more recent years.

Tony Lyons, treasurer of American Values 2024, said he has met Mellon and described him as someone who is well read and closely follows political developments. One donation to the Kennedy-aligned group, he said, came in after an effort in July by House Democrats to get Republicans to rescind an invitation for Kennedy to speak at a congressional hearing on censorship; a $5 million donation is recorded in FEC records two days after the Democrats’ letter. In total, Mellon has donated more than $20 million to American Values 2024.

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“I’ve noticed that he tends to give donations at times when he feels that there’s something going on that is antidemocratic,” Lyons said. “My personal view is that those kinds of things energize him to make a statement that supports democracy.”

In the 2022 political cycle alone, Open Secrets ranked Mellon the sixth largest individual contributor in federal contributions. But how much influence he’s wielding behind the scenes remains unclear.

“He’s playing a role that isn’t particularly unique to him, but that is increasingly common, which is that a sort of single mega donor will kind of go a long way towards propping up a campaign, and their reasons for doing so can vary,” said Daniel Weiner, director of the elections and government program at the Brennan Center for Justice. “In his case, it’s not clear whether he actually supports Mr. Kennedy, or whether he has other reasons for propping up his candidacy.”

Mellon has supported candidates all over the country, including some in New England, where he spent years living and doing business.

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Former president Donald Trump Victor J. Blue/Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Blo

He gave $2.5 million in the 2022 cycle to the Connecticut Patriots PAC, a super PAC that spent heavily against Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal. He also gave $2 million to White Mountain PAC, a super PAC that supported Republican Chuck Morse in the New Hampshire Senate primary.

“I know he had a business in New Hampshire and had interests in New Hampshire and has been a generous contributor to different Republican causes and candidates, but he never really interacted with the leadership of the Republican Party or individual candidates on any level that I was aware of,” said Steve Duprey, former chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party.

Mellon’s donation record is not linear. He has supported Democrats such as Senator Joe Manchin, a centrist from West Virginia; progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York; and former representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii and Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, both Democrats before they left the party.

The motivations behind contributions do not show up in the public reports.

“There is a limited amount that you see from these donations,” Weiner said. “You can’t peer into people’s souls.”

But overwhelmingly, Mellon’s money has funded conservative causes. According to The Texas Tribune, he donated millions in stock to Texas for a fund-raising effort for a border wall. The Wall Street Journal reported he also donated more than a million dollars to a legal defense fund set up by Jan Brewer, then-governor of Arizona, for an immigration crackdown law that received national backlash and was partially struck down in the courts.

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For those curious about Mellon, there will soon be an opportunity to learn more about him in his own words. In May, his memoir, called “panam.captain,” will be released by Lyons’s company, Skyhorse Publishing. The publishing company’s website promises a colorful memoir as a result of Mellon’s “expansive experiences and industrious nature.” The cover of the book features a blurb by Kennedy; the Kennedy campaign did not answer when asked whether he has met Mellon.

The Globe was unable to obtain a copy of the book, but The Washington Post had previously reported that it included offensive language regarding race.

In response to questions about whether the book had been revised, Lyons texted the Globe that while the editorial process on the book wasn’t done yet, “from my reading of the manuscript there are no racial stereotypes used.” But iPhone messaging indicated that Lyons had edited his text— and the original version included messages from Lyons to Mellon that Lyons appeared to have mistakenly sent to the Globe.

In the messages intended for Mellon, Lyons quoted a passage that The Washington Post had reported which contained offensive stereotypes about Black people. That excerpt said that after the Great Society, Black people had become “even more belligerent” and “unwilling to pitch in to improve their own situations.”

In the messages intended for Mellon, Lyons suggested an edit that toned down the offensive language. When he was made aware that he had sent those messages to the Globe, Lyons said his “proposed edit is intended simply to conform to contemporary norms for a more sensitive choice of words.”

Lissandra Villa Huerta can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @LissandraVilla.

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[1] Url: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/03/03/nation/rfk-jr-trump-donor-who-gave-millions-timothy-mellon/

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