Elon Musk is allowed to continue giving away $1 million each day to voters’ “sweepstakes” that aren’t really sweepstakes, according to a Pennsylvania judge’s ruling Monday. The lawsuit was filed by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who said the pro-Trump campaign violated Pennsylvania’s election law and the judge did not provide an explanation for his decision, according to the Associated Press. And while the win is symbolic, since Election Day is tomorrow, it’s still a little scary when you think about what billionaires might try in the next election.
America PAC, which is swimming in at least $120 million of Musk’s personal income, launched a fundraiser on October 19, promising to give $1 million anywhere to people who met three criteria: They were registered to vote, they lived in a war zone. , and signed a petition supporting the First and Second Amendments. Musk said at the time that he would be “randomly giving away a million dollars to people who signed the petition every day from now until the election.”
Almost any average person saw this as a way to appease and mobilize Donald Trump voters in key states in the run-up to the November 5 presidential election, paying them for their votes. But Musk, who is tipped to head the “Department of Government Effectiveness” (DOGE) if Trump wins, insisted that everything is on track. And somehow Judge Angelo Foglietta in Pennsylvania agreed with him.
Musk’s attorney, Chris Gober, insisted in court Monday that the $1 million was actually a “salary” instead of winning a private lottery, which is illegal in the state of Pennsylvania, according to the Associated Press.
“The recipients of the $1 million were not chosen by chance,” Gober said. “We know exactly who will be announced as the recipient of $1 million today and tomorrow.”
But that still sounds like a common scam if people sign up believing that Musk’s giveaway works like other sweepstakes, which work on luck.
Besides Pennsylvania, the other winners of the promotion were Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, and Michigan, although no state officials from any of those states tried to challenge Musk in court. The U.S. Department of Justice sent America PAC a letter warning that it may be breaking the law by disbursing millions of dollars but has not brought any action against Musk or his PAC.
Monday’s decision is just the latest legal victory for Musk, who appears to be wearing Teflon in court. Experts have repeatedly warned that if Musk is allowed to issue $ 1 million votes (even if the CEO of Tesla insists that this is not what he is doing) it will set a very bad example for the upcoming elections. With the way political campaigns are allowed to target voters these days, what’s to stop any rich person from shelling out stacks of money with some kind of plausible deniability about what I’m doing? This country is, in many ways, a joke in the post-Trump era.
Musk did not immediately respond to an email Monday evening. Gizmodo will update this post when we hear back.
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