A Philadelphia judge on Thursday paused a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s massive cash giveaways to voters in battleground states after the billionaire argued that questions about his political efforts should be resolved in federal court.
Philadelphia’s district attorney claimed a $1 million-a-day sweepstakes sponsored by Musk and America PAC, his pro-Trump group, violated state lottery and consumer protection laws. Late on Wednesday, Musk’s lawyers filed a motion to transfer the suit to federal court, and Judge Angelo Foglietta declined to block the giveaways in the meantime.
This likely means America PAC can continue giving out $1 million checks through Election Day next week. “American Justice FTW,” Musk tweeted after the hearing, which he skipped despite being ordered to attend.
Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia district attorney, said after the hearing that his office would fight to keep the lawsuit in state court, and within hours he filed a motion asking the federal judge to send the case back. Musk’s attorneys must respond by Friday morning, per a court order.
Federal law prohibits paying people to vote or register to vote, and Musk’s cash-for-voters scheme has drawn concerns from election law experts, the federal Justice Department, and lawmakers.
In early October, America PAC started offering a cash incentive for referring registered voters to sign a petition. So far, America PAC claims to have sent out checks totaling at least $8 million.
Rick Hasen, an election law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, wrote that the petition referral incentives were “of murky legality.” But the $1 million lottery prizes, which Musk announced at a town hall in Harrisburg on October 19, veered “into clearly illegal vote buying,” according to Hasen.
“Elon Musk’s behavior is just the latest — and most egregious — example of wealthy special interests distorting our political process at the expense of everyday voters,” said the Campaign Legal Center in a statement after Musk announced the massive prizes. “It is extremely problematic that the world’s richest man can throw his money around in an attempt to directly influence the outcome of this election.”
The Department of Justice quickly warned America PAC that the sweepstakes might violate federal law. Two high-ranking Democratic senators sent a letter to the DOJ arguing that the prizes were illegal since the scheme was “explicitly designed to induce people to register to vote.”
Despite the warning, Musk kept giving out jumbo-sized checks, and Krasner filed suit in Pennsylvania state court on Monday. His complaint was based solely on alleged violations of state law, which regulates lotteries.
“America PAC and Musk are lulling Philadelphia citizens — and others in the 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,” reads the complaint. “That is a lottery.”
In the motion to move the case to federal court, Musk’s attorneys decried it as a “politically motivated lawsuit.”