Judge decides not to block Musk's $1M election giveaway

America PAC tells judge winners were preselected, raising a whole new set of legal questions

It's a bit of a moot point given the US presidential election is today, but a Pennsylvania judge has declined to stop Elon Musk's $1M election lottery despite the billionaire's America PAC seemingly admitting the whole thing was rigged from the start. 

Chris Young, director of Musk's America PAC, admitted in a hearing at the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas yesterday that the lottery was anything but. Winners weren't chosen at random, according to Reuters' report of the hearing, but were selected from a pool of candidates who appeared in videos for the group, with winners chosen for their suitability to serve as spokespeople for the PAC.

But that's not how Musk's PAC has made it sound since announcing the first winner on October 19. According to a post on X, "Every day from now until Election Day, one registered swing state voter who signs the petition will be selected to earn $1 MILLION," with an accompanying video saying the winner was selected for no other reason than signing America PAC's petition in support of the First and Second Amendments to the US Constitution. 

That petition, the signing period for which ended today, was open to registered voters in the crucial swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.

If it ain't a lotto, is it still illegal?

Musk admittedly stated on October 19 that the cash came with an ask that the winner serve as a spokesperson for America PAC, but no mention was made of the less-than-random selection process - a fundamental part of meeting the definition of a lottery.

Acting under the assumption it was a truly random lottery, Pennsylvania Governor and former state attorney general Josh Shapiro said the Monday after the first giveaway that the contest merited a look from law enforcement for potential election law violations. 

In late October, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner filed a lawsuit to stop the lottery, with a request for an emergency injunction to stop the cash giveaways before Election Day. 

Musk's lawyers responded with a request to have the matter heard in federal court, which a federal judge denied last week, kicking the matter back to the Philly Court of Common Pleas to be dealt with at the state level.

It's there that America PAC let slip that the lottery wasn't one at all, with Young admitting yesterday that he was surprised to hear Musk describe the prize as random at the October 19 rally. Young also admitted that winners were required to sign non-disclosure agreements to prevent them from sharing the terms of their deals with Musk's Trump-backing PAC. 

But that raises another question: Since neither Musk nor America PAC took steps to disabuse the petition-signing public that the giveaway wasn't random, is the whole thing a massive case of fraud? John Summers, who represented the DA's office in the hearing, appears to believe so.

"If [America PAC's] story is true, it's one of the greatest scams of the last 50 years," Summers said in his closing remarks at the hearing, per Reuters. 

While the emergency injunction request was ultimately denied by Judge Angelo Foglietta, the case, number 241003509 in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, is still open, suggesting the matter of the legality of the contest is still to be decided. Foglietta has yet to explain his reasoning, with the docket for the case only indicating a written justification is forthcoming.

We've reached out to the DA's office to see how it plans to proceed with the case, and whether fraud charges may be on the horizon, but didn't hear back. ®