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Wisconsin’s attorney general has sued Elon Musk to prevent him from giving $1 million checks to voters who signed his petition opposing “activist judges” in the state Supreme Court election.
Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, filed the lawsuit against Musk on Friday over his voter payout scheme. “Based on our understanding of applicable Wisconsin law, we intend to take legal action today to seek a court order to stop this from happening,” Kaul said in a statement.
Musk had promised to hand out $1 million apiece to two voters at an event on Sunday. The Tesla CEO initially linked his giveaway to people who had already voted in the election “in appreciation for you taking the time to vote,” a move that potentially flouts a federal law that bars payments to people in exchange for their votes or for registering to vote. Legal scholar Rick Hasen has also said that the scheme may be illegal under Wisconsin law.
Musk later deleted the post and issued a “clarification” that removed any connection between the payouts and voting, saying the money will be awarded to “spokesmen” for his petition to oppose “activist judges” and that entrance to the event is limited to those who have signed that petition. The pivot echoes the disclosure in a Pennsylvania court in November that Musk’s daily million-dollar campaign season payouts were to “spokespeople,” rather than randomly chosen individuals who had signed a petition.
After the news broke Kaul would seek to block Musk’s giveaway, Musk reposted a message on his social media platform X in which another user called the lawsuit ‘lawfare,’ a refrain Trump and his allies have used to decry legal decisions that have gone against the president and the various investigations he’s faced in the last few years.
The race between liberal candidate Susan Crawford and conservative Brad Schimel for an empty seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court has attracted national attention — and donations. It is already the most expensive judicial election in U.S. history, with more than $81 million poured into a race that will determine the partisan lean of the swing state’s highest court, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.
Groups linked to Musk have spent millions to help boost Schimel’s campaign and have offered financial incentives to voters to engage them in the race. It is yet another test of the billionaire’s effort to turn his financial might into political power.
Musk became involved in the election shortly after Tesla sued Wisconsin over a state law that prohibits auto manufacturers from selling directly to consumers. That lawsuit may very well end up before the court — whose political makeup he is currently trying to sway.