Single donor gives Donald Trump Ksh6.4B for campaigns
Donald Trump's presidential campaign has received Ksh6.4 billion ($50m (£39.5m) boost from the conservative billionaire Timothy Mellon, a federal filing showed on Thursday.
The Super-Pac fund called "MAGA Inc" disclosed to the Federal Election Commission that it took in more than Ksh8.7 billion ($68m) from donors last month.
Reuters reported that Mellon, an heir of the Pittsburgh-based Mellon banking family, gave Ksh6.4 billion ($50m). Another Ksh1.2 billion ($10m) came from billionaires Liz and Dick Uihlein.
US media reported that Mellon sent the donation the day after Trump was convicted on 34 charges of falsifying business records in his New York hush-money trial.
Mellon has also been the biggest donor to independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, giving the pro-Kennedy Super-Pac American Values at least Ksh2.5 billion ($20m).
Super-Pacs are independent "political action committees" that can raise unlimited amounts of money to support an election candidate.
The Mellon donation has helped pro-Trump allies outspend US President Joe Biden's allies on campaigning in recent weeks.
Mellon, who lives in Wyoming and is rarely photographed, is an amateur pilot who has invested in and led transport-related companies.
Forbes estimates that the Mellon family is worth around Ksh1.8 trillion ($14.1bn).
Meanwhile, Reuters reported that billionaire Mike Bloomberg has given nearly Ksh2.5 billion ($20m) to Biden-supporting Super-Pacs.
Bloomberg's contribution included $19m to an independent pro-Biden group known as Future Forward or FF PAC.
A further Ksh115 million ($900,000) was given to the Biden Victory Fund, which is an amalgamation of the Biden campaign and Democratic Party committees.
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Thursday, the pro-Kennedy Super-Pac reported that it took in only around Ksh35 million ($280,000) last month, with none of it coming from Mr Mellon.
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