Philly DA sues to halt Elon Musk's $1 million voter giveaway in Pennsylvania

[littlemissmartypants]

Last edited Mon Oct 28, 2024, 10:07 AM - Edit history (1)

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner on Monday sued to halt Elon Musk’s $1 million daily giveaway to voters in battleground states including Pennsylvania, calling it an illegal lottery that skirts state requirements and violates consumer protection laws.

The suit, filed in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, is the first legal action challenging the controversial sweepstakes launched earlier this month by Musk’s America PAC. It comes a week after the U.S. Justice Department similarly warned the tech billionaire that the giveaway violates federal laws banning inducements to voters.

But Musk, so far, has ignored that warning and continued his pledge to dole out awards to registered voters in seven battleground states every day until Election Day. His PAC has given away more than $9 million — nearly half of it to Pennsylvania voters.

The new lawsuit grants Krasner, a progressive prosecutor and frequent target of Republican ire, the opportunity to take on Musk, who has emerged as one of GOP Donald Trump’s chief surrogates in the state, in court in the waning days of what is an extraordinarily close and contentious presidential race.

Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/politics/election/elon-musk-lawsuit-giveaway-larry-krasner-america-pac-20241028.html?int_promo=newsletter#loaded

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Updated Oct. 28, 2024, 10:34 a.m. ET

[C_U_L8R]

1. Musk is breaking very basic business laws

A scam like this would be shut down whether it involved voters or not.

Instead, Krasner argued Musk’s giveaways are operating essentially as a lottery — which under Pennsylvania law can only be run by the state and for the benefit of the Pennsylvania seniors.

Krasner also maintained that America PAC appears to be violating several aspects of Pennsylvania’s consumer protection laws — including by failing to publish detailed lottery rules or to demonstrate how it is protecting the personal information of participants.

The district attorney also questioned the fairness of contest.

“Though Musk says that a winner’s selection is ‘random,’ that appears to be false,” the lawsuit says. “Multiple winners that have been selected are individuals who have shown up at Trump rallies in Pennsylvania.”

[jimfields33]

2. They have 8 days to shut it down.

Will they be able to have a decision by then?

[Bondor]

3. Punishment?

Can the punishment be jail time rather than just a few dollars that Elon will not miss? Don't judges respond harshly to open defiance as he has shown?

[Bayard]

4. A real man of the common people

This is election interference.

[Novara]

5. One would think being threatened by the DOJ would have sunk in

But maybe Musk knows Garland won't do a damn thing.