Elon Musk doesn't show at Philadelphia hearing over super PAC's $1 million lottery for voters

By Joe Brandt, Josh Sanders
Updated on: October 31, 2024


Despite a judge's order that "all parties must be present," Tesla founder, X owner and billionaire Elon Musk did not appear in a Philadelphia courtroom Thursday after District Attorney Larry Krasner sued him over his super PAC's plan to award $1 million a day to voters in key battleground states in the 2024 election.

Krasner and members of his office joined attorneys for Musk in Judge Angelo Foglietta's civil courtroom at City Hall for a hearing Thursday at 10 a.m. ET.

Musk's attorneys filed documents Wednesday night in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, a federal court, requesting the matter be moved to their jurisdiction – and out of the local Court of Common Pleas. A judge granted that transfer.

Attorneys for Krasner said they would contest that recommendation.

"We will proceed to federal court and seek to address the issues there and have them addressed in state court. This is a case that addresses state law issues, and I'll leave it at that," said attorney John Summers.

Musk, who has campaigned with former President Donald Trump, has donated tens of millions of dollars to America PAC, a super PAC formed this summer to support the Republican candidate.

The lottery award goes to signers of a petition asking voters to support free speech and the right to bear arms. According to the super PAC's website, at least 12 people have received $1 million awards, including four from Pennsylvania.

"The Philadelphia District Attorney is charged with protecting the public from public nuisances and unfair trade practices, including illegal lotteries. The DA is also charged with protecting the public from interference with the integrity of elections," Krasner said in a statement after the civil suit was announced.

Days before Krasner filed the suit, the Justice Department sent a letter to the super PAC warning that it may be violating federal laws about paying voters.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

Elon Musk ordered to attend court over US voter cash giveaways

2 hours ago
Ana Faguy
BBC News, Washington DC

Elon Musk has been ordered to attend a court hearing on Thursday, days after the billionaire was sued by prosecutors in Philadelphia over his $1m (£770,000) giveaways to voters.

The Donald Trump supporter has, through his political group America PAC, been offering cash prizes to registered voters in swing states who sign a petition.

US officials suggest this may break electoral law - something Musk denies. Philadelphia District Attorney Lawrence Krasner said Musk "must be stopped, immediately, before the upcoming presidential election".

CNN reports that Musk has filed a "motion of removal" to move the matter from the state's hands to a federal judge, which could delay matters.

The Philadelphia court hearing is scheduled to start at 10:00 EST (14:00 GMT), according to the BBC's US partner, CBS News.

Court documents show that Judge Angelo Foglietta of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas said that "all parties must be present at the time of the hearing".

Musk announced earlier this month that he would randomly award a $1m prize to people in battleground states - Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina - every day until 5 November.

These swing states suggest a particularly close contest between Trump and his Democratic rival for president, Kamala Harris.

To be eligible to win, the giveaway requires registered voters to release personal identifying information, like addresses and phone numbers. They are also required to sign a pledge that says they support the US Constitution.

The lawsuit filed against Musk claimed he was "running an illegal lottery".

“America PAC and Musk are lulling Philadelphia citizens... to give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win $1 million,” Mr Krasner said in the lawsuit. "That is a lottery. And it is indisputably an unlawful lottery."

The lawsuit also accuses the Tesla co-founder of violating consumer protection laws by using "deceptive, vague or misleading statements" that could create confusion.

But Musk's lawyers have argued otherwise.

"The complaint, in truth, has little to do with state-law claims of nuisance and consumer protection," Musk’s lawyers wrote in federal filings, according to the CNN report.

"Rather, although disguised as state law claims, the complaint’s focus is to prevent defendants’ purported ‘interference’ with the forthcoming federal presidential election by any means."

If the matter does move to the federal court, the case would move out of the Philadelphia judge's hands.

The BBC reached out to Mr Krasner for comment.

Before the case was filed, Musk's PAC was also warned by the US justice department that its lottery-style giveaway might violate federal election law.

The BBC has previously reached out to America PAC for comment.

Under US law, it is illegal to pay people to register to vote. But legal experts have told the BBC that whether the giveaway violates federal law is a grey area.

Musk himself, who has been aggressively campaigning for Trump, has insisted voters who want to be eligible for the prizes do not need to register as Republicans or go ahead with casting a vote.

naptu2:
Summary.

A district attorney sued Elon Musk at a local court over his million dollar giveaway. The DA said that the giveaway was an illegal lottery and constituted interference in an election. The judge had ordered that all parties should appear in court.

However, Mr Musk's lawyers approached a federal court and asked it to take over jurisdiction from the local court. That's probably why he did not appear at the local court hearing.




https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/elon-musk-court-philadelphia-america-pac-money-voting-2024/

AntiChristian:


Baba olowo no show face!

Saner clime playing politics!

Our politicians that will be quoting Singapore, Malaysia, USA, etc....

OmaleYoungdaou:
Isn't it from his account? The beneficiaries are happy than your government for the past 4yrs.

rentAcock:
This guy is a complete joke. If he has any sense he should know that anyone who associates with Trump will eventually face their demise. Look at Rudy Guiliani, Michael Cohen etc etc, Trump is a poison and it never ends well for them. I'm beginning to think Elon Musk isn't as smart or as innovative as he's been portrayed to be. PayPal, Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink the Boring Company, Neuralink and Twitter were other people's ideas and he just hijacked it as his. Just like he tried to forcefully become the CEO of Open AI but was rejected and he started making threats to shut them down.

I could care less about American politics, but him and Trump will be put to shame in just a few days. At some point, common decency and the rule of law will prevail. Thinking you can just pay people millions of dollars to vote for Trump without any consequence, just shows how foolish they both are.

OmaleYoungdaou:
Isn't it from his account? The beneficiaries are happy than your government for the past 4yrs.