A Pennsylvania judge allows Elon Musk’s $1 million giveaway

With one day to go before the closely contested US presidential election between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, lawyers for Musk’s pro-Trump America PAC tried to convince Judge Angelo Foglietta that the contest was not an ‘illegal lottery’ , such as that of Philadelphia. top prosecutor alleged

Reuters

November 5, 2024, 11:10 am

Last modified: November 5, 2024, 11:30 am

File photo of Elon Musk. Photo: Reuters

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File photo of Elon Musk. Photo: Reuters

A Pennsylvania judge on Monday allowed Elon Musk’s $1 million-a-day giveaway to push state voters to continue, following a surprise day of testimony in which the billionaire’s aide acknowledged that his political group had chosen the winners of the competition.

With one day to go before the closely contested US presidential election between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, lawyers for Musk’s pro-Trump America PAC tried to convince Judge Angelo Foglietta that the contest was not an ‘illegal lottery’ , such as that of Philadelphia. top prosecutor alleged.

Lawyers for America PAC and its director, Chris Young, said the group distributed the funds based on who would be the best spokespeople for its pro-Trump agenda, despite the billionaire’s claim that winners would be chosen at random.

Tesla CEO Musk has already given away $16 million to registered swing state voters who qualified for the giveaway by signing his political petition. His group, America PAC, announced a winner from Arizona on Monday and said the eventual winner, from Michigan, will be announced on Election Day Tuesday.

America PAC launched the contest on October 19. The contest is open to registered voters in seven major battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — who sign a petition pledging to support free speech and gun rights.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, filed a lawsuit on Oct. 28 to block the contest in Pennsylvania, claiming the payouts amounted to an illegal lottery with vaguely defined rules. Krasner said in court that he would also seek financial penalties.

Foglietta denied Krasner’s offer in a brief and said he would explain his reasoning later.

Musk’s attorney Andy Taylor accused Krasner’s office of suppressing the rights of Pennsylvanians by preventing them from signing the petition.

“They are trying to stop Pennsylvania citizens from signing a petition about freedom of speech and the right to own guns,” Taylor said during closing arguments.

Musk became an outspoken Trump supporter this year and has promoted the former president on his X social media platform. To date, he has given nearly $120 million to America PAC to further his voter mobilization and registration efforts, according to federal disclosures.

Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes will be crucial in determining which candidate wins the 270 votes needed to be declared the winner.

‘ONE OF THE BIGGEST SCAMS’

In an attempt to convince Foglietta that the giveaway was not an illegal lottery, Musk’s lawyers said the giveaway was not a prize, but rather compensation for those chosen to serve as spokespersons for America’s pro-Trump agenda PAC.

Young, the director of America PAC, testified that he selected winners from a group of candidates who appeared in videos for the group and allowed the group to use their images after reviewing their social media and meeting them outside event venues.

John Summers, an attorney from Krasner’s office, said the admissions that the giveaway was not random made it not only an illegal lottery but also a fraud.

“If their story is true,” Summers said in his closing argument, “it is one of the biggest scams of the last fifty years.”

Summers showed the court a clip of Musk at a Trump rally on Oct. 19, saying America PAC would randomly award $1 million to people who sign the petition. In the video, Musk said that “all we ask” is that the winners serve as spokespeople for the America PAC.

Young said he was surprised to hear Musk describe the giveaway as random during the meeting. He also acknowledged that the winners had signed non-disclosure agreements, preventing them from discussing the terms of the contracts.

The giveaway falls into a gray area of ​​election law, and legal experts are divided over whether Musk could violate federal laws against paying people to register to vote.

The U.S. Department of Justice has warned America PAC that the giveaway could violate federal law, according to media reports, but federal prosecutors have not taken any public action.

The Trump campaign is largely dependent on outside groups to recruit voters, meaning the super PAC founded by Musk, the world’s richest man, will play an outsized role in what is expected to be a razor-thin election.