An emergency injunction to halt Elon Musk’s daily $1 million giveaways to Pennsylvania voters was delayed Thursday after a Philadelphia judge granted his request for a last-minute venue change – a decision that could allow Musk to continue to dole out the awards, via his Trump-supporting America PAC, through Election Day.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner had filed an emergency injunction to halt the giveaways from the Musk-backed PAC earlier this week, claiming they were an “illegal lottery” aimed at influencing the outcome of an election.
Both parties were slated to attend the hearing in Philadelphia Thursday, but Musk and his attorneys failed to appear in court after filing an 11th-hour change of venue request on Wednesday to have the matter heard by the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, moving the matter from state to federal court.
Judge Angelo Foglietta granted the request, which could ultimately postpone the hearing date until after the election.
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office vowed to contest the venue change on Thursday and move the case back to state court, describing Musk’s ploy to punt the challenge to a federal court as an “irresponsible” “publicity stunt.”
“We will proceed to federal court and seek to address the issues there and have them addressed in state court. This is a case that addresses state law issues, and I’ll leave it at that,” John Summers, an attorney for the D.A.’s office, told reporters.
The news comes after the Musk-backed America PAC has been awarding daily $1 million checks to voters in seven swing states.
Musk has billed the $1 million daily giveaways as an effort to increase voter registration across seven major swing states, and has claimed its daily winners are selected at “random.”
But Krasner objected, arguing that Musk’s daily giveaways run afoul of state law, which requires all lotteries in Pennsylvania to be “operated and administered by the state.”
His lawsuit does not address any violations of federal law, however, which is in part why his office objected to the change of venue.
Meanwhile, Musk’s attorney Matthew Haverstick accused the D.A. of creating a “circus atmosphere” by naming Musk in the lawsuit, and claimed he should not be required to appear.
Krasner, a Democrat, claimed in his lawsuit that 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.
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It also accused Musk and his PAC of violating consumer protection laws, citing the “deceptive” and “misleading” statements Musk had made about the nature of the contest.
“That is a lottery.” Krasner said in the lawsuit. “And it is indisputably an unlawful lottery.”
The legal saga comes as the Tesla founder and CEO has come under increasing scrutiny for the daily giveaways, whose winners he claims have been chosen at “random” – something Krasner’s office disputes.
“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,” he said in the lawsuit.
Last week, the Justice Department sent a letter to Musk warning that the giveaway might violate federal election laws, which criminalize paying voters to register or participate in elections.
Until the court rules, however, Musk is likely free to continue with his sweepstakes.
