The top prosecutor in Philadelphia filed a lawsuit Monday to stop Elon Musk and his Trump-supporting political action committee from continuing their $1 million daily giveaways to registered swing state voters, describing the contest as an “illegal lottery” aimed at influencing the results of a presidential election.
The lawsuit was filed in civil court by Philadelphia District Attorney Lary Krasner, a Democrat. It notes that all lotteries in Pennsylvania are required to be “operated and administered by the state” – and argues that Musk’s daily giveaways run afoul of that law.
The lawsuit claims both Musk and his Trump-supporting political action committee, America PAC, are “lulling Philadelphia citizens” and others in the Commonwealth to “give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win $1 million,” through its daily giveaway scheme.
“That is a lottery.” Krasner said in the lawsuit. “And it is indisputably an unlawful lottery.”
The lawsuit further accuses Musk and his PAC of violating consumer protection laws, citing the “deceptive” and “misleading” statements Musk has made about the nature of the contest.
Musk has billed the $1 million daily giveaways as an effort to increase voter registration across seven major swing states, and claims its daily winners are selected at “random.”
But the district attorney’s office contested this, noting: “Though Musk says that a winner’s selection is ‘random,’ that appears false because multiple winners that have been selected are individuals who have shown up at Trump rallies in Pennsylvania.”
Krasner’s request for a preliminary injunction halting Musk’s giveaways has been set for Friday morning in Philadelphia.
Until then, Musk is likely free to continue with his sweepstakes.
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News of the lawsuit comes as the Tesla founder and CEO has come under increasing scrutiny for the daily giveaways.
Last week, the Justice Department sent a letter to Musk warning that the giveaway scheme might violate federal election laws, which criminalize paying voters to register or participate in elections.
Neither the Justice Department nor the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office immediately responded to Fox News’s request for comment.
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