Elon Musk launched a “lottery” in mid-October to support the candidacy of Donald Trump.
An initiative that a Pennsylvania prosecutor considers illegal, and which he has decided to pursue.
The billionaire's lawyers opted for a surprising line of defense this Monday, during a hearing in Philadelphia.
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This is a line of defense that may seem unusual at first glance. The lawyer for Elon Musk's political action committee (PAC) in favor of Donald Trump told a judge in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) this Monday that the winners of the lottery set up by the billionaire did not have were chosen at random, reports the Washington Post (new window).
According to Chris Gober, they were actually selected to become spokespeople for the committee, and the million dollars each received would be their compensation. The “lottery” was therefore not one, this assertion seems to demonstrate. By pleading in this sense, the Republican lawyer has one objective: to escape the accusation of prosecutor Larry Krasner, who is pursuing the organization as a “scam designed to influence a national election”.
A very political lottery
Elon Musk launched this “lottery” on October 19, supposed to pocket a million dollars every day for a voter in one of the seven key states (Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia). He himself presented a check to the first winner, a citizen of the hotly contested state of Pennsylvania. The only condition to win is to sign a conservative petition organized by the pro-Trump committee financed by Elon Musk, in favor of free speech and the right to bear arms.
Since that first check, four of the first 13 winners have come from Pennsylvania, prompting the district attorney in Philadelphia, the state's largest city, to file suit. Larry Krasner said in his press release that it was his responsibility to “protect the population from public nuisances and unfair commercial practices, including illegal lotteries”.
Winners designated in advance?
After attempting to deport the procedure to the federal level, the defense of the PAC financed by Musk now seeks to demonstrate that the random nature of the designation of a winner is an error of language on the part of the boss of Tesla and SpaceX. The names of each of the winners were known in advance, according to the lawyer. “We know exactly who will be announced as the million dollar winner today and tomorrow”insisted Chris Gober at the hearing. He also considered that the prosecutor's prosecution was in vain, as the lottery was supposed to end on voting day, November 5.
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Judge Antonio Foglietta, responsible for ruling, apparently heard the arguments of Elon Musk's defense, refusing to force him to end his lottery, at the end of the hearing this Monday – without for the moment convey the reasons for his judgment. The California billionaire was not present at the hearing. He invested more than $70 million in this super-PAC to support Donald Trump in his attempt to return to the White House next January.
