Musk's $1 mn voter giveaway is illegal lottery, says lawyer at hearing

Elon Musk's $1 million-a-day giveaway to registered voters ahead of the US presidential election is an "illegal lottery," a lawyer for the Philadelphia district attorney said at a hearing on Monday as a judge weighed whether to stop the contest. 

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. 

Since Oct. 19, Tesla CEO Musk has been giving a $1 million check every day to a randomly selected voter who has signed his petition supporting free speech and gun rights. 

 

Musk became an outspoken Trump supporter this year and has promoted the former president on his X social media platform.

Democratic Philadelphia District Attorney Lawrence Krasner sued Musk and his political action committee in state court on Oct. 28 to try to block the giveaway. Krasner, a champion of progressive causes, called the program an illegal lottery that violates state consumer protection laws. 

A lawyer for Krasner's office, John Summers, told Judge Angelo Foglietta on Monday that Musk's giveaway was clearly illegal and not approved by the state, which has the sole authority to run lotteries. 

"The law is pretty clear what a lottery is, and this doesn't look like any kind of lawful lottery in Pennsylvania," Summers said. 

Earlier, Musk lawyer Chris Gober told reporters outside the courtroom that Krasner was seeking to silence Musk for his support of Trump. 

"We don't allow our rights to be trampled upon by partisan agendas masquerading as legal arguments," Musk lawyer Chris Gober told reporters outside the courtroom where the hearing was taking place. "Truth will not be bullied and neither will my client." 

Musk's offer is limited to registered voters in the seven states expected to decide the election - Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. 

So far, Musk's America PAC has awarded $1 million prizes to 16 people and said the final prize will be given on Nov. 5. 

Krasner also alleged that people who receive Musk's money are "not actually chosen at random," citing two winners who attended two pro-Trump rallies. In court, Summers said Musk did not disclose basic information such as how winners were selected and what the odds of winning are. 

Philadelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania, one of seven battleground states likely to determine the outcome of the race between Trump and Harris. Whichever candidate wins the state will receive its 19 electoral votes out of a total of 270 needed to win. 

Musk and his America PAC sought to move the case to federal court, arguing Krasner's lawsuit raised questions about free-speech rights and election interference that belong in federal court. 

But on Friday, US District Judge Gerald Pappert in Philadelphia federal court said the case belonged in state court and later that day Foglietta scheduled a hearing in the case. 

The giveaway falls in a gray area of election law, and legal experts are divided on whether Musk could be violating federal laws against paying people to register to vote. 

The US Department of Justice has warned America PAC the giveaway could violate federal law, according to media reports, but federal prosecutors have not taken any public action. 

Musk has so far given nearly $120 million to America PAC, according to federal disclosures. 

The Trump campaign is broadly reliant on outside groups for canvassing voters, meaning the super PAC founded by Musk, the world's richest man, plays an outsized role in what is expected to be a razor-thin election.   

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