Elon Musk’s dubious $1 million voter lottery is getting a dose of legal scrutiny, as the city of Philadelphia sues the billionaire and X owner to stop the swing state payouts.
The city’s district attorney Larry Krasner is accusing Musk of trying to influence voters and running an illegal lottery, opening up the business owner to local prosecution under the state’s strict lottery regulations. Krasner has asked a judge to order Musk stop the giveaway immediately, with more than 280,000 Pennsylvanians already signed up for the raffle.
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The payouts come from Musk’s new America PAC, created to back the presidential campaign for Donald Trump and support “constitutional values,” which ostensibly include secure borders and free speech. Musk has donated more than $118 million to the PAC, eclipsing other high-dollar contributions from the likes of the DeVos family, the Winklevoss twins, former U.S. Ambassador Kelly Craft, and Jimmy John’s founder James Liautaud.
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Following the super pac’s unveiling, Musk said he would award daily $1 million payouts to randomly-selected voters residing in swing states who signed his petition to “support the Constitutional rights to free speech and bear arms.” The giveaway wasn’t the first money offer from the billionaire, and many have questioned the payouts’ legality under federal law. Others expressed concern about personal data privacy for those entering.
To get around finance laws, Musk has called the lottery winners “America PAC spokespeople” and refers to the six-figure offers as “paychecks,” not winnings. According to the lawsuit, Musk’s actions also violate consumer protection laws by allegedly favoring winners that have attended Trump rallies. The Justice Department has also warned Musk against further action under the America PAC “lottery.” Trump has avoided associating with the lottery, but has called on Musk as an ally.
Musk has recently joined the Trump campaign trail in addition to his vocal support for the candidate online. A recent New York Times report alleges that Musk’s motive for supporting the twice-impeached former president is to protect himself and his companies from dozens of federal probes and to maintain his billions in government contracts.