The super PAC that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. backed, received another cash infusion from GOP mega-donor Tim Mellon in April, according to the latest campaign finance report.
Mellon is the biggest GOP donor so far this campaign cycle and has now given the American Values 2024 super PAC, which is backing Kennedy’s long-running independent presidential bid, $25 million.
His $5 million donation also made up the vast majority of the super PAC’s proceeds last month, which totaled $6.1 million. Another $1 million in April came from PAC co-founder Mark Gorton, who also co-founded Limewire.
Mellon is a longtime GOP donor who also gave $5 million last year to Make America Great Again Inc., the super PAC that backed former President Donald Trump. More recently, in March he donated $5 million to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC for GOP House candidates, and $4 million to The Sentinel Action Fund, a super PAC affiliated with the conservative Heritage Foundation.
The Wyoming billionaire is also releasing a memoir this summer with Skyhorse Publishing, the publishing company run by Tony Lyons, the co-founder of American Values 2024. Kennedy provided a blurb for the book’s cover, according to Amazon’s presale page.
American Values also continued its financial relationship with Gavin de Becker, founder of the security company of the same name – although not through a new contribution.
De Becker was reimbursed $2 million on April 25. The proceeds were a new transaction in the “bridge financing” deal between the donor and super PAC. De Becker has now donated $14 million to American Values 2024 and has received $11.65 million in return since the PAC began supporting Kennedy’s bid for the White House. His net contribution now stands at $2.35 million.
The scheme has drawn criticism from Kennedy’s rivals, and the Democratic National Committee has filed a complaint with federal regulators over the consistent transfers of money to De Becker, alleging that the contributions function like loans.
The super PAC also spent just over $100,000 on social media ads and $31,500 on radio ads in April, the filing showed. American Values ended the month with $20.8 million in cash.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story misstated the total amount of donations Tim Mellon has made to the American Values 2024 super PAC. It’s about $25 million.
