A lawsuit aimed at stopping Elon Musk’s $1 million-a-day giveaway should be moved to federal court, Musk’s lawyers have claimed.
The Philadelphia district attorney’s office filed a lawsuit Monday to halt Musk‘s $1 million a day to registered voters in swing states, saying that the giveaway is intended to reward people for registering and voting for Donald Trump.
The billionaire Tesla CEO gives $1 million daily to a single voter who signs an online petition supporting the First and Second Amendments. The petition is targeting registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina.
Newsweek sought comment from Musk’s communications team and the Trump campaign via email on Thursday.
In a filing to a federal district judge in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Musk’s lawyers said that the giveaway was across several states and that the case should be in federal court, not in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
They asked that the lawsuit be moved “from the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County where the action is now pending to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.”
The SpaceX founder may believe he will get a more favorable outcome in federal court than in an urban area like Philadelphia, which leans Democrat.
Elon Musk speaks during a Donald Trump rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City on October 27, 2024. The Philadelphia District Attorney is trying to stop Musk’s $1 million-a-day giveaway to voters in swing states.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Musk’s efforts to move the case to federal court echo those of Trump, who has sought to move lawsuits and state criminal charges against him to federal court, where a conservative circuit may rule in the way he wants.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner called the daily giveaway plan by Musk’s America PAC an “illegal lottery.”
In addition to the $1 million, Musk gives away $47 to everyone who refers another voter to sign the pledge, a sum that rises to $100 per referral in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania.
“Our goal is to get 1 million registered voters in swing states to sign in support of the Constitution, especially freedom of speech and the right to bear arms,” Elon’s political action committee (PAC), America, states on its website.
Musk is a keen Trump supporter and has spoken at Trump rallies in support of the former president.
The giveaway has continued every day in the lead up to the presidential election. On October 25, for example, the political action committee announced that “Jason of Holland, Michigan, received $1M for signing our petition to support the Constitution.”
A post on X, formerly Twitter, showed Jason, who was identified only by his first name, holding an oversize $1 million check.
The district attorney’s office said on its website: “Today, the Philadelphia DA filed a civil legal action under Pennsylvania law. This civil action neither precludes nor requires potential future action under Pennsylvania criminal law. The Philadelphia DA will litigate the factual allegations and legal arguments that underlie today’s filing on the record and in court.”
The district attorney’s office said there was “no additional information” at this time beyond the website statement.
“America PAC and Musk must be stopped, immediately, before the upcoming presidential election on November 5,” the lawsuit read. “America PAC and Musk hatched their illegal lottery scheme to influence voters in that election.”
Musk has donated more than $118 million to the America PAC, which he founded and which backs Trump, according to Federal Election Commission filings. As of September 30, America PAC reportedly spent $133,841,660 to support or oppose 2024 federal candidates, according to the lawsuit.
