Nothing is ever simple with Elon Musk, especially when it comes to money. The lawyer for Musk’s America PAC told a Philadelphia judge on Monday, that the $1-million-a-day voter registration “sweepstakes” taking place in swing states is actually fixed.
“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance,” Chris Gober, who represents the billionaire’s pro-Donald Trump PAC, told the judge. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”
On Monday afternoon, Judge Angelo Foglietta sided with Musk’s PAC attorney and ruled that the giveaway scheme was not an illegal lottery in violation of Pennsylvania law.
Musk's attorney also argued that since they are going to choose people from other states over the next two days it wouldn’t be breaking the state’s election laws.
Gober went on to explain that the PAC characterizes the pretend lottery “winner” as a “paid spokesperson.” The winners are chosen based on their stories and sign a contract with the super PAC.
This might come as a surprise to the millions of people who signed up believing they had a chance to win the money. Musk announced the giveaway during a Trump rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 20, by saying, “We are going to be awarding $1 million randomly to people who have signed the petition, every day, from now until the election.” It turns out he didn’t mean randomly at all.
The hearing comes after Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner filed a lawsuit against Musk and his PAC last week. On Monday, Krasner told the judge, "This was all a political marketing masquerading as a lottery. That’s what it is. A grift.”
While Gober argued that the $1 million theater would end after Tuesday’s election, Krasner told the judge he wondered what was going to be done with all of the personal information the PAC was able to hoodwink from people. “They were scammed for their information,” Krasner said in court. “It has almost unlimited use.”
The legality of Musk’s $1 million "sweepstakes" is just the latest example of the already ethically hampered America PAC’s legitimacy.
Musk’s PAC’s early foray into voter outreach was exposed as deceptive voter registration schemes, targeting swing state voters for information collecting under the guise of voter registration information.
The PAC also made news last week, when it was revealed that it was spending money to buy ads on Musk’s social media platform X. The America PAC is additionally being sued by workers who claim the organization skimped on wages and didn't pay expenses they said they would pay.
It's no wonder Musk gravitated to conman extraordinaire Trump.
