Current:Home > MarketsMusk PAC tells Philadelphia judge the $1 million sweepstakes winners are not chosen by chance -ProgressCapital
Musk PAC tells Philadelphia judge the $1 million sweepstakes winners are not chosen by chance
View
Date:2025-04-12 05:33:54
Follow live: Updates from AP’s coverage of the presidential election.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A lawyer for Elon Musk ‘s political action committee told a judge in Philadelphia on Monday that so-called “winners” of his $1 million-a-day voter sweepstakes in swing states are not chosen by chance but are instead chosen to be paid “spokespeople” for the group.
GOP lawyer Chris Gober also said that the recipients Monday and Tuesday will come from Arizona and Michigan, respectively, and therefore will not affect the Pennsylvania election. He said the recipients are chosen based on their personal stories and sign a contract with the political organization, America PAC.
“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance,” Gober said Monday. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”
Musk did not attend the hearing, held on the day before the presidential election. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner took the witness stand Monday and called the sweepstakes a scam as he asked the judge to shut it down.
America PAC hopes the lottery will help Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Krasner said 18 prizes have been announced to date.
Lawyers for Musk and his America PAC confirmed to the judge they do not plan to extend the lottery beyond Tuesday.
However, Krasner called it an illegal lottery under Pennsylvania law, with no published rules or privacy policies for the information the PAC collects on voters who sign an oath the U.S. Constitution as they register for the sweepstakes.
“They were scammed for their information,” Krasner testified Monday. “It has almost unlimited use.”
Krasner’s lawyer, John Summers, said Musk is “the heartbeat of America PAC,” and the person announcing the winners and presenting the checks.
“He was the one who presented the checks, albeit large cardboard checks. We don’t really know if there are any real checks,” Summers said.
Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta was presiding over the case at Philadelphia City Hall after Musk and the PAC lost an effort to move it to federal court.
Krasner has said he could still consider criminal charges, as he’s tasked with protecting both lotteries and the integrity of elections. In the lawsuit, he said the defendants are “indisputably violating” Pennsylvania’s lottery laws.
Pennsylvania remains a key battleground state with 19 electoral votes and both Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris have repeatedly visited the state, including stops planned Monday in the final hours of the campaign.
veryGood! (715)
Related
- Elon Musk’s Daughter Vivian Calls Him “Absolutely Pathetic” and a “Serial Adulterer”
- Virginia Senate Democrats decline to adopt proportional party representation on committees
- A suburban Chicago man has been sentenced in the hit-and-run death of a retired police officer
- A North Dakota lawmaker is removed from a committee after insulting police in a DUI stop
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Freckle tattoos are a thing. But read this before you try the viral trend.
- How to make an electronic signature: Sign documents from anywhere with your phone
- Biden’s education chief to talk with Dartmouth students about Islamophobia, antisemitism
- Kansas City Chiefs CEO's Daughter Ava Hunt Hospitalized After Falling Down a Mountain
- RHOBH's Kyle Richards Reveals Plans to Leave Hollywood
Ranking
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- U.S. says yes to new bitcoin funds, paving the way for more Americans to buy crypto
- German software giant SAP fined more than $220M to resolve US bribery allegations
- Who’s running for president? See a rundown of the 2024 candidates
- 'Most Whopper
- Adan Canto, Designated Survivor and X-Men actor, dies at age 42 after cancer battle
- Lawmaker resumes push to end odd-year elections for governor and other statewide offices in Kentucky
- Kentucky Derby purse raised to $5 million for 150th race in May
Recommendation
The GOP and Kansas’ Democratic governor ousted targeted lawmakers in the state’s primary
GOP-led House Judiciary Committee advances contempt of Congress resolution for Hunter Biden
Engine maker Cummins to repair 600,000 Ram trucks in $2 billion emissions cheating scandal
What's next for Michigan, Jim Harbaugh after winning the college football national title?
Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy case reaches 'impasse' over NIL information for CU star
Arizona shelter dog's midnight munchies leads to escape attempt: See the video
South Carolina Republicans back trans youth health care ban despite pushback from parents, doctors
Welcome to 'Baichella,' a mind-blowing, Beyoncé-themed 13th birthday party