Elon Musk didn’t appear at a court hearing for a lawsuit over his $1 million-a-day giveaway
Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
Elon Musk didn’t appear at a Pennsylvania court hearing over a lawsuit targeting his $1 million-a-day giveaway.
Philadelphia’s district attorney, Larry Krasner, filed the lawsuit against Musk’s America PAC on Monday, calling the sweepstakes an “illegal lottery.”
“If not enjoined, their lottery scheme and unfair and deceptive conduct will irreparably harm Philadelphians (and others in Pennsylvania) as well as tarnish the public’s right to a free and fair election,” the lawsuit, filed Monday, said.
Lawyers for Krasner were originally granted a Friday court date in state court for their request to immediately halt the giveaway, but that hearing was moved to Thursday morning under a different judge.
Hours after the case was reassigned, Musk’s team requested late Wednesday night that the lawsuit be moved to federal court — a move that could delay any relief.
The request didn’t stop the judge from holding the state court hearing, which began at 10 a.m. Musk did not show up in court, despite having been ordered to by a judge, multiple journalists reported from Philadelphia.
Krasner’s lawyers said Musk should be sanctioned for missing the hearing, but the judge reserved his decision until after it’s determined which court will hear the lawsuit, the Associated Press reported.
Krasner’s attorney told reporters after the hearing that he would argue in federal court that the case be returned to state court.
“We will proceed to federal court, and we will address the issues there and seek to have the matter remanded back to the state court,” said John Summers, an attorney representing Krasner. “After all, this is a case that involves state law issues, and I’ll leave it at that.”
Musk’s lawyers said in the request to move the case that Krasner’s complaint had little to do with “state-law claims of nuisance and consumer protection” but rather claims of Musk’s “interference” with the election.
A claim like that, Musk’s lawyers said, belongs in federal court.
The district attorney’s lawyers have asked that Musk and his PAC be “restrained and enjoined from promoting, maintaining or operating their lottery,” according to the court schedule and a draft injunction filed with a lawsuit.
Musk is giving $1 million away to a different voter every day. It may not be legal.
Krasner hopes to stop Musk from offering a daily chance for people to win $1 million for signing a petition supporting the Constitution and the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
The giveaway, which began October 19, has two catches. Participants must be residents of one of seven swing states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, or North Carolina. To apply, participants must also be registered voters.
By Thursday, much of what the DA and Democratic critics allege is the purpose of the giveaway — to provide a financial incentive for swing-staters to register to vote for Donald Trump — had been served. Voter registration closed in Pennsylvania a week ago.
Nevada and North Carolina are the only swing states offering voter registration next week.
But the lawsuit was widely reported when news of it broke on Monday morning. After that, a flurry of postings about the giveaway and Pennsylvania on the America PAC site on X. Musk founded the PAC and owns the platform formerly known as Twitter.
“Pennsylvania, today and tomorrow are the last two days of on-demand voting,” the PAC posted. Also Monday, the PAC announced its 10th million-dollar winner.
Attorneys for Musk and a spokesperson for America PAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
On Monday, a spokesperson for America PAC declined to comment on the lawsuit, instead directing B-17 to a new post from the PAC’s X account showing what it said was a photo of “Jordan from Hastings, Michigan” holding a mock $1 million check.
The Hastings man was named a winner hours after the lawsuit was filed.
The DA’s demand for an injunction halting the giveaway was heard Thursday before Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Angelo J. Foglietta, who took the bench in 2012 after running on a Democratic slate.
The case was reassigned to Foglietta from the original judge, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Anne Marie B. Coyle, who took the bench in 2013 after running on a Republican slate. Court records do not give a specific reason for the reassignment.
Krasner’s lawsuit says the giveaway is an unregulated lottery that violates Pennsylvania law.
Musk and his PAC “have shrouded key aspects of the lottery in secrecy,” including by failing to detail contest rules, the odds of winning, and how winners are selected,” the lawsuit said.
Musk has called the selection of winners “random” and has said in a video the purpose of the giveaway was to alert people to the election.
“Defendants have already unlawfully acquired data from over 280,000 unsuspecting Pennsylvanians and will suffer no injury by being enjoined from further wrongdoing,” the lawsuit against him said.
The giveaway has been criticized by Democrats as a cash-for-registration drive designed to help boost Trump’s numbers. Federal law bars paying someone to vote or register to vote.
Legal experts previously told B-17 the America PAC’s contest likely violated the spirit of the law and may have outright crossed the line.
Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia Law School, said it would be surprising to see the Justice Department take action given the little time left before Election Day. The DOJ sent a letter to America PAC warning that the giveaway might be illegal.
Musk has become one of the most vocal pro-Republican megadonors in the presidential race. He just finished a series of town halls in Pennsylvania, the biggest swing state in the race.
October 31: This story was updated to reflect Thursday’s court hearing.
