Elon Musk was summoned to court over a $1 million lottery among voters

A court in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, USA) summoned American billionaire Elon Musk to a court hearing. The case concerns the lottery of the pro-Trump committee America PAC, where voters who supported amendments to the Constitution could win $1 million.

This was reported by Reuters and local media Pennsylvania Capital-Star.

The judge ordered all parties to appear at a court hearing in Philadelphia, which was postponed to Thursday, October 31. District Attorney Larry Krasner filed the civil suit against the PAC and Musk personally on Monday, October 28.

Earlier, the American businessman said that before the presidential election, he would give $1 million a day to a random person who signed a petition of the America PAC organization on the commitment to support the right to freedom of speech and the right to own a weapon.

The prosecution calls the lottery illegal and claims that the drawing encouraged Pennsylvanians to share their personal information. US federal law prohibits bribery of peopleʼs votes and even money to register to vote. Violators (both payers and recipients) face fines or imprisonment if prosecuted. In Pennsylvania, only paying for votes, but not for registration, is considered illegal.

As Reuters writes, Donald Trumpʼs campaign relies more on outside groups to canvass voters. Therefore, Elon Muskʼs PAC will play an important role in the November 5 election, which is expected to be narrowly contested.

Elon Musk and the US elections

The businessman publicly denied his involvement in sponsoring any political campaigns. Musk wrote in X that he does not give money to any of the US presidential candidates. However, over time, the billionaire began to criticize Joe Biden more often, getting closer to the US presidential candidate from the Republican Party Donald Trump.

After that, the Bloomberg agency wrote that Musk is secretly giving money to Trumpʼs election campaign. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Republican may make Elon Musk his adviser if he returns to the White House.

In September 2024, Trump announced that if he wins the election, he will create a government efficiency commission headed by Musk. This idea was voiced by the billionaire himself the day before. The commission should conduct a full financial audit of American agencies and eliminate "unreasonable" spending.

At the beginning of October 2024, the American billionaire invested another $43.6 million in America PAC to promote the US presidential candidate from the Republican party, Trump.

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Author: Anastasiia Mohylevets