A federal judge has returned a lawsuit against Elon Musk and America PAC back to Pennsylvania state court, after a state judge paused the case pending the higher court’s decision. Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner originally filed the action against the Tesla CEO and his political action committee – which is spending money on behalf of Donald Trump in the presidential election next Tuesday – with the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, accusing them of running an illegal lottery with a $1 million daily giveaway to registered voters. Krasner’s request to block Musk’s PAC from awarding any more prizes will be heard on Monday.
In his decision, federal judge Gerald J. Pappert of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania rejected the defendants’ reasoning that since the case is concerned with the presidential election, then it must necessarily be resolved at the federal level: “federal question jurisdiction does not turn on a plaintiff’s motivations in filing suit; it turns on whether the legal issues arising from the claims originate in federal or state law.”
Musk announced America PAC’s daily giveaway on October 19th, when he explained that registered voters in swing states could sign a petition in support of the “constitutional rights to free speech and to bear arms,” which would automatically enter them in the giveaway, where one of the signers of the petition would be selected each day until election day. Musk has claimed that the giveaway is meant to encourage people to register to vote, while Krasner has called the Silicon Valley financier’s practices “deceptive,” claiming that he has not clearly elaborated the rules of the program or indicated how the personal information being provided by those who participate would be protected.
There are also questions as to how random the selection of winners is, as two happened to be present at Trump rallies when they were announced, while another is a YouTuber with a sizeable following. America PAC has also been offering $47 for every registered voter referred to the petition, and raised that payout to $100 for those who do so in Pennsylvania, which is increasingly viewed as the most crucial of all the swing states by both the Kamala Harris and Donald Trump campaigns.
Elon Musk, whose $262 billion fortune makes him the richest man in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires index, has given over $100 million to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign through America PAC.
