Elon Musk’s super PAC awards $1 million prizes to 2 registered voters, despite DOJ warning
CNN
Elon Musk’s super PAC awarded two $1 million prizes to registered voters in Michigan and Wisconsin on Thursday, after being warned by the Justice Department that the payments might be illegal.
Elon Musk’s super PAC awarded two $1 million prizes to registered voters in Michigan and Wisconsin on Thursday, after being warned by the Justice Department that the payments might be illegal. These are the first giveaways by the pro-Donald Trump super PAC after news broke Wednesday that the Justice Department had sent a letter to the group, warning that its “daily” sweepstakes might violate federal election laws against paying for voter registrations. Musk, the CEO of Tesla and the richest man in the world, launched the sweepstakes on Saturday and his super PAC had named a winner each day – until Wednesday. No winner was announced then, but two winners were announced Thursday on X, the social media platform that Musk owns. The group has not provided any public explanation for the apparent one-day pause, and a spokesperson for the super PAC declined to comment. It’s not clear when Musk received the Justice Department’s letter. Nonpartisan election law experts immediately raised concerns about the sweepstakes after Musk’s initial rollout on Saturday during a pro-Trump campaign event in Pennsylvania. To win the $1 million prize, people must sign a petition affirming their support for the rights to free speech and bear arms. However, the fine print on the super PAC’s website specifies that only registered voters in seven battleground states are eligible to sign the petition – which experts said is the crux of the potential illegality.
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