X owner and world’s richest man Elon Musk is defying an unusual threatening letter from the Department of Justice, which warned his America PAC that its giveaway may violate federal law. Musk is giving away a million dollars a day to registered voters in battleground states who sign his petition to support the First and Second Amendments. Those who refer other voters in the battleground states of Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina to sign receive $47 per signature, and $100 in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania.
According to 24sightNews, which broke the news about the letter, the DOJ told Musk’s Super PAC that offering anything of value to influence voting was in violation of 52 U.S.C. 10307(c). That law makes it a federal crime to pay someone to register to vote or to vote, punishable by a fine of $10,000, five years in prison, or both. Musk continued to issue the $1 million checks after receiving the letter.
His America PAC said since the petition is not rewarding people for registering to vote or voting, but for merely signing a petition, it doesn’t violate the law. In response to a post from science fiction horror author Stephen King accusing Musk of “paying to register Republicans,” Musk posted on X, “You can be from any or no political party and you don’t even have to vote.”
According to election law attorney Hans von Spakovsky, a former member of the Federal Election Commission, the letter was unprecedented for the DOJ. “DOJ does not normally send out a letter telling someone they are possibly violating the law,” he told The Arizona Sun Times. “If they believe a violation has occurred, they open an investigation. They don’t warn the possible target about their investigation. The only reason to do this is to scare and deter Elon Musk and for public relations, political purposes. There is no violation of the law under the applicable statute and this is another sign of the weaponization of the DOJ as a political tool to be used against the administration’s political opponents.”
Jennifer Wright, an election attorney who previously served as the civil attorney for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office Election Integrity Unit, posted on X, “Musk is paying people to sign his petition, and offering a sweepstakes to signers. The petition isn’t for a ballot initiative, it’s for data collection. No federal or Arizona law prohibits paying people to sign a marketing petition.”
Musk is paying people to sign his petition, and offering a sweepstakes to signers.
The petition isn’t for a ballot initiative, it’s for data collection.
No federal or Arizona law prohibits paying people to sign a marketing petition. https://t.co/MiELY91RQQ
— Jen Wright (@JenWEsq) October 23, 2024
Nate Persily, a professor at Stanford Law School, told NBC News, “The relevant legal question is whether this is payment to induce people to register. If it is, then it violates the law. If it’s payment to induce people to sign a petition, then it’s not a problem.”
The DOJ’s Election Crimes Manual states that it may violate the law if cash or “lottery chances” are “intended to induce or reward the voter for engaging in one or more acts necessary to cast a ballot.” The DOJ could also pile on by pursuing Musk for process crimes such as mail fraud, wire and “honest services fraud.” However, the Supreme Court has frowned upon using those laws in public corruption cases in recent years.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections and the Michigan secretary of state’s office are conducting their own investigations. Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro called Musk’s giveaway “deeply concerning” on NBC’s Meet the Press. Musk responded on X with a touch of sarcasm, “Concerning that he would say such a thing.”
On Friday, two Democratic senators urged the DOJ to investigate Musk over the giveaway. Democratic Senators Peter Welch of Vermont and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said the giveaway “is explicitly designed to induce people to register to vote. … There is no place for vote buying in our democracy. … Permitting this scheme to proceed without consequences makes a mockery of democracy and the law.” Earlier in the week, 11 relatively unknown former Republican officials sent a similar letter to the DOJ.
NBC said none of the experts it spoke with believed the DOJ would stop the giveaway before the election. The FEC is composed of commissioners from both parties, which makes it difficult for the agency to zealously go after campaigns, since a majority is required to pursue targets.
Although Musk is accused of using the giveaway to induce people to register to vote and vote, Pennsylvania Republicans are lagging far behind Democrats in early voting. About 60 percent of early voting in the state is from Democrats, twice as much as Republicans at 30 percent.
Musk has contributed more than $118 million to his Super PAC, according to FEC filings. America PAC is the eighth largest outside spender in the 2024 election at $137 million, according to Open Secrets. The progressive hybrid Super PAC Future Forward has spent the most by far of any outside group, at $423 million.
Musk, who recently became a Trump supporter, has called out Democrats and the Biden administration for weaponizing lawfare against him. He is currently involved in at least 11 regulatory or legal battles with the federal government related to his companies. On Monday, far-Left Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sued the tech mogul, alleging his America PAC is operating an illegal lottery.
The claim comes after the Musk-supported group made good on its promise to give away $1,000,000 each day to one of its petition signors who declare their support for the First Amendment and Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Elon Musk” by Elon Musk.
