A Philadelphia judge sided with Elon Musk’s political action committee on Monday, one week after the city’s Democratic district attorney sued the group for allegedly violating Pennsylvania’s consumer-protection and lottery laws by handing out $1 million to a select few registered voters in the Keystone State.
In Monday’s order, a judge for the Philadelphia County Common Pleas Court, Angelo Foglietta, declined to block the giveaway program and wrote he would explain his decision in a future ruling. Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner sued Musk’s America PAC last week, arguing its voter lottery illegally incentivized Pennsylvania residents to vote in Tuesday’s election. The order does not end the civil lawsuit.
As of Monday, the pro-Trump America PAC had awarded a total of $17 million to swing-state voters who signed a petition in support of the First and Second Amendments in the days leading up to the presidential election. Only voters from the seven swing states — Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina — were eligible for the daily $1 million awards.
Four of the selected voters hail from Pennsylvania, while the last two winners reside in Arizona and Michigan. Chris Gober, a lawyer for America PAC, assured the court on Monday that the last two awards would not affect Pennsylvania’s elections.
Krasner’s argument hinged on Musk’s own statement that winners of the $1 million daily giveaways were selected randomly. Gober argued the sweepstakes winners were not chosen at random but instead selected as paid spokespeople for the group.
“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance,” Gober told the court on Monday. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”
When Musk announced the initiative late last month, he said winners would be selected “randomly” and “by chance.” Krasner’s lawyer pointed to Musk’s own words as an argument for why the program constitutes an illegal lottery. Gober said “randomly” is not synonymous with “chance,” which Krasner called “absurd.”
Musk’s lawyer, Matt Haverstick, argued the program does not represent a lottery because America PAC does not select winners “by chance.” Instead, he described the payouts as a “salary” for the winning recipients.
Krasner maintained his Democratic affiliation had nothing to do with the lawsuit against Musk. The district attorney said he would have sued Taylor Swift, who endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, if she offered a $1 million prize to voters like the Tesla CEO has done. Krasner noted he had previously sued Democrats.
Monday’s testimony comes after Musk’s request to move the case to a federal court was blocked on Friday. The lawsuit was remanded to state court. Musk’s bid managed to delay a hearing from last week to Monday. The Trump-supporting billionaire did not attend the hearing, which comes one day before the election.
Musk has donated $75 million to America PAC since the super PAC was formed in July to back former President Donald Trump. Musk, who endorsed Trump following the first assassination attempt, has said the giveaways were not designed to sway voters toward any particular candidate.
Last month, the Department of Justice warned America PAC that it may be in violation of federal election laws about paying voters. Pennsylvania’s governor, Josh Shapiro, called for law enforcement to investigate the matter after the sweepstakes program was announced.