Billionaire Richard Mellon Scaife has died aged 82.
Richard Mellon Scaife’s death comes less than two months after he had announced he had an untreatable form of cancer.
The heir to the Mellon banking and oil fortune, he helped finance the election campaigns of Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
Richard Mellon Scaife also backed inquiries in the 1990s to discredit the then Democratic President, Bill Clinton.
He died early on Friday at his home, his newspaper – the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review – reported.
It said his death came just one day after his 82nd birthday, without providing further details.
Richard Mellon Scaife was an ardent supporter of right-wing causes, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to think-tanks, lobbyists and conservative newspapers and magazines.
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