UPDATE (Oct. 28, 2024, 10:12 a.m. ET): Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner on Monday filed a civil legal action to halt America PAC’s $1 million daily giveaway in Pennsylvania.
Elon Musk’s daily $1 million lottery for registered voters in swing states raised eyebrows among election law experts who said the scheme was in murky legal territory. Now, the Justice Department has warned the abrasive billionaire that his giveaway may be illegal, NBC News reported.
A source familiar with the matter told NBC News that the agency’s public integrity section sent a letter to Musk’s super PAC, America PAC, informing the group that its giveaway, aimed at voters who sign a “free speech” and “gun rights” petition, may be in violation of federal law.
Musk, who has endorsed Donald Trump, announced Saturday that America PAC would be giving $1 million to one voter every day until Nov. 5 if they sign its petition. Election law experts looked on the giveaway with skepticism, and some have argued it essentially skirts the law on vote-buying. A group of former federal prosecutors and GOP lawmakers on Monday urged U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate the scheme.
MSNBC Daily columnist Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor, offered her own analysis of Musk’s giveaway on Tuesday:
If he’s giving people, who may already be registered to vote, a monetary incentive to sign a petition supporting the First and Second amendments, then that may be legal. If, on the other hand, Musk is giving people a monetary incentive to register to vote, that is not.
The Justice Department has not publicly commented on the letter, and it’s unclear if the agency will take any further action.
Despite the legal questions around Musk’s lottery, a source familiar with America PAC’s work told NBC News that the group is “confident in the legality of this initiative.” However, America PAC did not announce a daily winner Wednesday after announcing winners on four previous days.
Musk has waged an all-out effort to get Trump elected to the White House. He has appeared with the Republican presidential nominee at rallies and has poured $75 million of his own money into America PAC, even as the group’s voter registration tactics have come under investigation in several states. Musk has also amplified right-wing culture war issues and spread political disinformation on his social media platform, X, including promoting false and debunked claims about voter fraud.