Philadelphia’s district attorney is suing Elon Musk’s political action committee to stop his multimillion-dollar stunt that the Department of Justice has warned could be illegal.
A lawsuit filed in Pennsylvania on Monday by District Attorney Larry Krasner argues that Musk’s Donald Trump-supporting America PAC “hatched an illegal lottery scheme to influence voters in that election.”
“America PAC and Musk must be stopped, immediately,” before Election Day, according to the lawsuit, which was first reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“Though Musk says that a winner’s selection is ‘random,’ that appears to be false,” according to the lawsuit. “Multiple winners that have been selected are individuals who have shown up at Trump rallies in Pennsylvania.”
The lawsuit marks the first legal action against the billionaire’s stunt, which offered people who signed the PAC’s petition supporting First and Second Amendment rights the chance to win a random daily $1 million prize drawing.
But the sweepstakes is only open to registered voters in seven swing states, drawing warnings from election law experts and civil rights groups that the scheme could be seen as an illegal vote-buying operation, by creating a roundabout incentive to get people to register to vote. Others have argued it’s a blatant infusion of the billionaire’s cash into a Trump-boosting campaign.
The money is scheduled to be awarded every day until Election Day on November 5, according to America PAC. Winners are then photographed with novelty-sized checks posted to X.
Musk, whose PAC is being sued just hours after he appeared in front of 19,000 people at Madison Square Garden to boost the Republican nominee, has defended the contest, claiming that the petition is not designed to register people to vote and is merely a petition in support of the Constitution of the United States, and in particular, freedom of speech and the right to bear arms,” he said on X last week.
A letter from the Justice Department’s election crimes chief in its public integrity bureau reminded America PAC last week that offering anything of value to influence how someone casts their ballot would violate federal law.
The prize winners thus far have all been registered Republican voters who cast their ballots early, either days or weeks before the prize drawings, according to records reviewed by The Independent.
Musk’s PAC has awarded at least $10 million to petition signers so far, with at least five winners from Pennsylvania alone. The prizes have also gone to Republican voters in Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
More than 280,000 registered voters in Pennsylvania had signed the petition to enter as of last week, according to the PAC.
Under federal law, it is illegal to pay, offer to pay, or accept payment for registering to vote or voting.
The Independent has requested comment from an America PAC representative.
