The Money Behind John Edwards: Heiress Rachel ‘Bunny’ Mellon, Age 100 - Clare O'Connor - Filthy Rich - Forbes

Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon.

One of the most telling details in today’s indictment of two-time presidential candidate John Edwards comes in the form of a note from a supporter, sent to former aide Andrew Young in 2007. The donor is described in the indictment as ‘Person C’, but is widely understood to be reclusive banking heiress Rachel Mellon, or ‘Bunny’ to her friends. In the note, Mellon, aged 96 at the time, defends Edwards from media ribbing (he’d just spent $400 on a haircut) — and appears to provide evidence that led to today’s indictment for receiving illegal campaign contributions:

“I was sitting alone in a grim mood – furious that the press attacked Senator Edwards on the price of a haircut. But it inspired me – from now on, all haircuts, etc., that are necessary and important for his campaign – please send the bills to me….It is a way to help our friend without government restrictions.”

Mellon did indeed help Edwards, according to the indictment, writing $725,000 in personal checks for items like ‘chairs’, ‘bookcase’, and ‘antique Charleston table’ that instead went to support Rielle Hunter, who had a child with Edwards. In his book on the Edwards saga, Andrew Young says Mellon hid her checks in boxes of chocolate, and claims they were intended as gifts, therefore not subject to campaign finance laws. Mellon’s New York-based lawyer Alexander Forger, who was unavailable for comment today, has said in the past that the heiress had no idea her money was going to Hunter.

Now aged 100 and in increasingly frail health, Mellon is likely to be called to testify. “There’s no question that she is involved, so her testimony would be highly relevant,” said Gerald Lefcourt, a criminal defense lawyer with a roster of high-profile clients including politicians. “There are numerous ways of proving the money came from her.”

If Mellon takes the stand, it’ll be one of the very few times she’s emerged from self-imposed seclusion in years. Her husband Paul Mellon, scion of the banking family, died in 1999. While she inherited some of his estate, worth $1.4 billion per the 1998 Forbes 400 rich list, he left much of it to charitable causes. But Bunny Mellon is rich in her own right, not just by marriage: her father Gerard Lambert was the one-time president of Gillette and made a fortune through his Warner-Lambert pharmaceutical company, inventors of the mouthwash Listerine. Pfizer bought out Warner-Lambert for $110 billion in 2000; it is unclear what, if any, stake Bunny Mellon had in the company at that point.

Forbes has been unable to put any sort of definitive number on Mellon’s net worth, although we’re trying ahead of this year’s Forbes 400 list (she’d be America’s oldest billionaire). It appears much of her fortune is tied up in trusts, and unsurprisingly no-one in her circle is keen to divulge much information. What is clear is that she is both extraordinarily wealthy and very private. According to a rare profile in Vanity Fair — her second interview in over 40 years — she maintains homes in Antigua, Paris, New York, Washington, Nantucket, and Cape Cod (they’re said to be fully staffed at all times). Her main residence is a 4,000-acre farm in Virginia with its own airstrip for her Falcon 2000. Mellon’s art collection includes Giacomettis and a Rothko worth $125 million, says VF.

Aside from her wealth and pedigree, Bunny Mellon has led a colorful life, which James Reginato does an excellent job detailing in VF. She was a close friend of Jacqueline Kennedy, taking the young president’s wife under her wing and helping design the White House rose garden. She was renowned as a horticulturalist, but also as a fashion plate. As Reginato writes, Givenchy designed her entire wardrobe, down to her underwear and her servants’ uniforms. She was a socialite and a trendsetter; she learned pilates from — who else — Joseph Pilates. And she took an interest in liberal politics. She wanted to help elect John Edwards because she thought a Democrat in the White House would “save the world.”

Read the full John Edwards indictment document here. He entered a not guilty plea on Friday afternoon. I’ll be following the Edwards case and Bunny Mellon’s involvement. Check back and follow me on Twitter – @Clare_OC.