Million-dollar-a-day voter sweepstakes hosted by Elon Musk’s political action committee in battleground states can continue until Tuesday’s US presidential election, a Pennsylvania judge ruled Monday.
Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta — who ruled after Musk’s lawyers said the winners were paid spokespersons and were not chosen by chance — did not immediately explain his reasons.
Democratic Attorney General Larry Krasner called the operation a scam “designed to actually influence national elections” and asked for it to be shut down.
Musk’s lawyer, Chris Gober, said the last two winners before Tuesday’s presidential election will be in Arizona on Monday and Michigan on Tuesday.
“The $1 million recipients were not chosen by chance,” Gober said Monday. “We know exactly who will be announced as the beneficiary of the $1 million today and tomorrow.”
Chris Young, director and treasurer of America PAC, testified that recipients are pre-screened, “to get a sense of their character, (and) make sure they are people whose values align” with the group.
Musk’s lawyers, who defended the effort, called it “primary political speech” since participants signed a petition supporting the U.S. Constitution. They also said Krasner’s attempt to close it under Pennsylvania law was moot because there would be no other winners in Pennsylvania before the program ends Tuesday.
Krasner believes the giveaways violate state election law and contradict what Musk promised when he announced them during an appearance with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on October 19: “We’ll give away $1 million.” “Randomize people who signed the petition every day between now and the election,” Musk pledged.
Young also admitted that the political action committee made recipients sign nondisclosure agreements.
Get breaking national news
For news affecting Canada and around the world, sign up to get breaking news alerts delivered to you right as they happen.
“They couldn’t really reveal the truth about how they got the money, could they?” Summers asked.
“Sounds about right,” Young said.
In an October 20 social media post filed in court, Musk said anyone who signed the petition had a “daily chance to win $1 million!”
Summers criticized him over Musk’s use of the words “coincidence” and “randomly,” prompting Young to admit that the latter was “not the word I would have chosen.”
Young said the winners knew they would be called to the stage but not specifically that they would win money.
Musk did not attend the session. He has committed more than $70 million to a super PAC to help Trump and other Republicans win in November.
“This was all political marketing masquerading as a lottery,” Krasner testified Monday. “It is what it is. A gift.”
Musk’s lawyers and political action committee said they do not plan to extend the lottery beyond Tuesday. The top three winners, starting Oct. 19, came from Pennsylvania in the days leading up to the state’s Oct. 21 voter registration deadline, Krasner said.
Other winners came from the hotly contested states of Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan. It is not clear whether anyone has received the money yet. The political action committee pledged it would receive it by November 30, according to the document shown in court.
More than a million people from the seven states have registered to participate in the lottery by signing a petition saying that they support the right to freedom of expression and to bear arms, which is the first of the two amendments to the US Constitution. Krasner wondered how the PAC would use its data, which would be accessible long after the election.
“They were defrauded out of their information,” Krasner said. “It has almost unlimited use.”
Krasner’s team called Musk “the beating heart of the American political action committee,” and the one who announces the winners and presents the checks.
“He was the one who presented the checks, even if they were big cardboard checks. “We don’t really know if there are any real checks,” Summers said.
Foglietta presided over the case at Philadelphia City Hall after Musk and the political action committee lost their bid to move it to federal court.
Krasner said he could still consider filing criminal charges, because he is charged with protecting the lottery and the integrity of the election.
Pennsylvania remains a key battleground state with 19 electoral votes, and both Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris have repeatedly visited the state, including stops scheduled for Monday in the final hours of the campaign.
Krasner — who noted that he has been driving a Tesla for a long time — said he could also seek civil damages for Pennsylvania registrants.
Musk is the CEO and largest shareholder of Tesla. He also owns the social media platform X, where the America PAC has made posts about the lottery, and the rocket ship manufacturer SpaceX.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
