Elon Musk in legal hot water for pro-Trump America PAC $1 million giveaway

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PHILLY DA SUES MUSK OVER PRO-TRUMP SUPER PAC $1 MILLION DAILY GIVEAWAY

Tech billionaire, right-wing firebrand, and soon-to-be-ex-Californian Elon Musk is officially in choppy legal waters for giving away $1 million to registered voters in key swing states who sign a petition in support for First and Second Amendment rights.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner filed a civil suit against Musk and his pro-Donald Trump America PAC on Monday, citing the state’s lottery and consumer protection laws. Krasner filed the suit in Philadelphia County, where a judge will hear it this Friday.

“America PAC and Musk are lulling Philadelphia citizens — and others in the [Pennsylvania] Commonwealth (and other swing states in the upcoming election) — to give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win $1 million,” the DA’s team wrote in the lawsuit.

“That is a lottery. And it is indisputably an unlawful lottery.”

It is illegal to pay people to register to vote.

Musk announced the lottery while stumping for Trump in Harrisburg last week.

“We want to try to get over a million, maybe 2 million voters in the battleground states to sign the petition in support of the First and Second Amendment,” he said at the rally. “We are going to be awarding $1 million randomly to people who have signed the petition, every day, from now until the election.”

According to CNN, the Department of Justice’s public integrity section warned Musk about potential illegality of his giveaway scheme. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro told NBC that Musk’s “deeply concerning” sweepstakes is “something that law enforcement could take a look at.”

As of Monday afternoon, Musk’s PAC was promoting the $1 million giveaway for petition signatories in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Georgia — but also $47 “for each registered voter you refer that signs a petition pledging support for the First and Second Amendments.”

Krasner’s lawsuit alleges that Musk’s giveaway is rewarding pro-Trump voters and is “deceptive,” particularly under Pennsylvania state law, which requires all lotteries to be operated and administered by the state.

America PAC has not commented on the lawsuit, but has posted on X about the most recent giveaway winner: a man from Hastings, Michigan, photographed wearing an American flag suit over a pro-Trump tee shirt.

CALIFORNIA VOTER POWER

Via David Lightman...

Sure, your vote counts. But in California, voters don’t have nearly the clout of people in other states in the races for president and U.S. Senate, a new WalletHub study finds.

The financial data analysis firm ranked states according to who has the least and most powerful voters.

While voting is important everywhere, “It’s evident that not all votes hold the same weight,” said Chip Lupo, a WalletHub analyst.

In the race for president, California voters ranked 42nd in the power rankings, even though its 54 electoral votes are 20% of the 270 needed to win the White House. Wyoming, West Virginia and the District of Columbia tied for least powerful voters.

California hasn’t given its electoral votes to a Republican since 1988, and polls show Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee and former California attorney general and U.S. senate, with a huge lead over Republican Donald Trump.

The top most powerful voters are in too-close-to-call states expected to decide who wins the presidency: Nevada, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

The rankings were determined by mathematical formulas that included the probability of a state swinging one way or another.

California voters have even less clout in its Senate race. The state ranked last in influence, as Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Burbank, has a wide lead over Republican Steve Garvey, a former all-star baseball player.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“The rank racism that was on display last night at that rally, things that were said, that just cannot be allowed to be normalized and accepted. It’s just disgraceful.”

-Gov. Gavin Newsom responding to former President Donald Trump’s Sunday rally at Madison Square Garden.

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• ‘Vegan before 5 p.m.’ Sacramento restaurants remember Kamala Harris’ foodie ties to the city, via Jenavieve Hatch and William Melhado

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• Adam Schiff vs. Steve Garvey: Who will win the California U.S. Senate race? via David Lightman

This story was originally published October 29, 2024 at 4:55 AM.