Musk’s lawyers defended it as “core political speech,” emphasizing that participants must sign a petition endorsing the US Constitution.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s million-dollar voter giveaway survived a legal challenge by Philadelphia’s district attorney on Monday, just one day before Tuesday’s presidential election.
A Pennsylvania judge declined to block the initiative after a request by the district attorney, who called it an illegal lottery. The ruling came after a hearing where a lawyer representing Musk said that the contest winners were not picked at random. Instead, he said that the winners are not chosen at random and are instead paid spokespeople for the group.
“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance,” Musk lawyer Chris Gober said Monday, according to the Associated Press. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”
America PAC director Christ Young testified that the recipients are vetted beforehand to “feel out their personality, (and) make sure they were someone whose values aligned” with the group.
In their closing arguments, Musk’s lawyers defended it as “core political speech,” emphasizing that participants must sign a petition endorsing the US Constitution. They argued that Krasner’s attempt to halt the sweepstakes under Pennsylvania law was irrelevant since no additional Pennsylvania winners would be selected before the program concludes on Tuesday.
Krasner contended that the giveaways violate state election laws and contradict Musk’s statements made during an Oct. 19 event with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s campaign in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: “We’re going to be awarding a million dollars randomly to people who have signed the petition every day from now until the election,” Musk said.
This is a breaking story. Please refresh the page for updates.
Libby’s Desk
Commentary and must-reads from Libby’s desk, straight to your inbox.
TPM Newsletter
The Post Millennial’s top stories, delivered to your inbox.
