Philadelphia DA Sues Musk Over $1M Giveaways

Progressive Larry Krasner calls it an 'illegal lottery scheme' to sway voters for Trump
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 28, 2024 11:00 AM CDT
Philly DA Sues Musk Over $1M Giveaways
Elon Musk speaks at a campaign rally for Donald Trump at Madison Square Garden on Sunday in New York.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The district attorney in Philadelphia has sued Elon Musk to stop his $1 million daily giveaway to registered voters, reports ABC News. DA Larry Krasner says Musk and his America PAC are running what is "indisputably an unlawful lottery," reports NBC News. Musk has given away at least $9 million so far to people in battleground states who sign his petition pledging support for the First and Second amendments, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Justice Department sent Musk a warning letter last week—federal law bars inducements to voters—though Musk hasn't stopped the giveaway and insists it's legal.

"To be clear, this is not a petition to vote for or register for anyone," he said last week, per NBC. "It's really a petition in support of the Constitution of the United States, and in particular, freedom of speech and the right to bear arms." Musk has been campaigning for Donald Trump, and critics see the giveaway as a thinly disguised attempt to beef up the GOP's voter registration rolls in swing states to benefit the former president. Krasner is a progressive and a frequent target of GOP critics, notes the Inquirer.

"America PAC and Musk must be stopped, immediately, before the upcoming Presidential Election on Nov. 5," reads the lawsuit. "That is because America PAC and Musk hatched their illegal lottery scheme to influence voters in that election." (More Elon Musk stories.)

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