There's been much speculation over the legality of Elon Musk's $1 million petition-signing giveaway, and apparently the Justice Department has its own concerns. That's according to sources who spoke to outlets including CNN, NBC News, and the New York Times. The sources say the DoJ recently sent a letter to Musk's America PAC warning that his daily $1 million payout to a random signer of a petition expressing support for the first two constitutional amendments—a petition you can only sign if you're registered to vote in a swing state—may violate federal law. A source familiar with the super PAC says the organization "is confident in the legality of this initiative."
It's illegal to pay people to register to vote, but Musk's supporters have insisted he's not doing that. Meanwhile, the super PAC pivoted a bit and said the $1 million winners would act as its paid "spokespeople"; it also says it has met its goal of collecting more than a million signatures for the petition from swing states. As the Times explains, the Justice Department's public integrity unit, which investigates potential violations of election law, has sent similar letters to other entities, but the missives—while "intended to suggest that continuing such an activity could result in a criminal investigation"—don't actually tend to outline any next steps, and are rather an attempt "to force the recipient to make changes to conform with the law." (More Elon Musk stories.)
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