Musk due in court as $1m voter giveaway faces courtroom test
Published: 03:10 PM,Oct 31,2024 | EDITED : 07:10 PM,Oct 31,2024
FILE PHOTO: Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk speaks as Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. president Donald Trump looks on during a rally at the site of the July assassination attempt against Trump, in Butler, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
PHILADELPHIA: Elon Musk, a billionaire supporting Republican Donald Trump, has been ordered to attend a Thursday hearing in a prosecutor's lawsuit to block his $1 million-a-day giveaway to registered swing state voters ahead of the US election on November 5.
The hearing before Judge Angelo Foglietta concerns Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's bid to halt the giveaway less than a week before the tightly contested US presidential election between former President Trump and Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris.
According to published reports, Krasner asked the court for added security for the hearing, saying social media users posted an 'avalanche' of inflammatory posts, including antisemitic attacks toward him, and posted his home address.
Musk, meanwhile, is seeking to move the case to the federal court in Philadelphia.
In a filing there, Musk said Krasner's interference with core political speech and claim that he was 'somehow unlawfully interfering with a federal election' raised significant questions of federal law that belonged in federal court.
Krasner, who championed progressive causes when running for district attorney, accuses Tesla CEO Musk and his political action committee America PAC of hatching an 'illegal lottery scheme to influence voters.'
Musk promised to give $1 million a day to randomly selected people who signed a petition pledging support for free speech and gun rights.
Signatories were required to be registered voters in one of seven states that will likely decide the outcome of the November 5 election — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Musk gave away the first $1 million to an attendee of an October 19 rally hosted by America PAC in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Krasner's October 28 lawsuit alleges the giveaway amounts to an illegal lottery unsanctioned by the state, which has sole authority to run and regulate them.
The lawsuit also says it violates consumer protection laws by 'deploying deceptive, vague or misleading statements' about its rules. — Reuters
The hearing before Judge Angelo Foglietta concerns Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's bid to halt the giveaway less than a week before the tightly contested US presidential election between former President Trump and Democratic Vice-President Kamala Harris.
According to published reports, Krasner asked the court for added security for the hearing, saying social media users posted an 'avalanche' of inflammatory posts, including antisemitic attacks toward him, and posted his home address.
Musk, meanwhile, is seeking to move the case to the federal court in Philadelphia.
In a filing there, Musk said Krasner's interference with core political speech and claim that he was 'somehow unlawfully interfering with a federal election' raised significant questions of federal law that belonged in federal court.
Krasner, who championed progressive causes when running for district attorney, accuses Tesla CEO Musk and his political action committee America PAC of hatching an 'illegal lottery scheme to influence voters.'
Musk promised to give $1 million a day to randomly selected people who signed a petition pledging support for free speech and gun rights.
Signatories were required to be registered voters in one of seven states that will likely decide the outcome of the November 5 election — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Musk gave away the first $1 million to an attendee of an October 19 rally hosted by America PAC in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Krasner's October 28 lawsuit alleges the giveaway amounts to an illegal lottery unsanctioned by the state, which has sole authority to run and regulate them.
The lawsuit also says it violates consumer protection laws by 'deploying deceptive, vague or misleading statements' about its rules. — Reuters