Looks like they thought they had discovered a legal loophole...
Associated Press
A lawyer for Elon Musk ‘s political action committee told a judge in Philadelphia on Monday that so-called “winners” of his $1 million-a-day voter sweepstakes in swing states are not chosen by chance but are instead chosen to be paid “spokespeople” for the group.
GOP lawyer Chris Gober also said that the recipients Monday and Tuesday will come from Arizona and Michigan, respectively, and therefore will not affect the Pennsylvania election. He said the recipients are chosen based on their personal stories and sign a contract with the political organization, America PAC.
“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance,” Gober said Monday. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”
Call it a scam...
Reuters
Musk lawyer Chris Gober was trying to persuade a Pennsylvania judge that the giveaway was not an "illegal lottery," as Philadelphia district attorney Lawrence Krasner alleged in a lawsuit seeking to block the contest ahead of Tuesday's
U.S. presidential election.
"There is no prize to be won, instead recipients must fulfill contractual obligations to serve as a spokesperson for the PAC," Gober said in the hearing before Judge Angelo Foglietta, referring to Musk's political action committee, known as America PAC.
The hearing in the battleground state comes just one day before Democratic Vice President
Kamala Harris and Republican former President
Donald Trump will square off in the tightly contested race. Musk and his political action committee are backing Trump.
Call it a grift...
CNBC
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner on Monday testified that Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his political action committee know they are conducting an “illegal” lottery by giving away $1 million to registered voters in Pennsylvania and other swing states before Election Day.
“We are seeing, what I consider to be, in my opinion, guilty knowledge,” Krasner testified at a court hearing, where he has asked for an injunction to stop the giveaway by Musk’s America PAC, which is backing Donald Trump in the presidential election against Kamala Harris.
“They know what they’re doing is illegal and they are doing everything under the sun to clean it up,” Krasner said.
He called the promotion, which the PAC says has awarded $16 million to date, a “scam,” and “grift.”
Call it a fraud...
The Guardian
A lawyer for Krasner’s office, John Summers, called Gober’s comments a “complete admission of liability”.
“We just heard this guy say, my boss, my client, called this random,” Summers said. “We promised people that they were going to participate in a random process, but it’s a process where we pre-select people.”
Summers later showed the court a clip of Musk at a Trump rally on 19 October telling attendees that America Pac would “randomly” award $1m to people who sign the petition every day until the election. In the video, Musk also said “all we ask” is that the winners serve as spokespeople for the group.
It’s just business as usual with these people...
