The billionaire launched a daily lottery on October 19 to reward a voter in a key state who signed his pro-Trump petition. But he assured that the draw was random.
New twist for Elon Musk and his electoral lottery. According to a lawyer for the billionaire, Elon Musk’s pro-Trump group does not randomly choose the winners of its million-dollar-a-day giveaway to registered voters, but rather selects people who would be good spokespersons for his program, advances the Associated Press.
Chris Gober, the Tesla CEO’s lawyer, tried to persuade a Pennsylvania judge that the contest was not a “illegal lottery”as Philadelphia prosecutor Lawrence Krasner claims in a lawsuit seeking to block the contest ahead of Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election.
“There are no prizes to be won, but recipients must fulfill contractual obligations as PAC spokespersons”the lawyer said during the hearing, referring to Elon Musk’s political action committee, known as America PAC. The hearing, which is being held in one of the Swing States, takes place the day before voting day, this Tuesday, November 5.
A public supporter of Donald Trump, the Tesla CEO has been promoting the former president on his social media platform one of the seven states expected to decide the election (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) and which signed its petition in favor of free speech and gun rights. Larry Kasner, a Democratic prosecutor, then sued Elon Musk and his political action committee to try to block the contest, which he called an illegal lottery.
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During the hearing this Monday, a clip was broadcast. Those present could see Elon Musk during a Donald Trump rally on October 19, saying that America PAC would award “randomly” a million dollars to people who sign the petition. In the video, Mr. Musk said that “whatever (he) asks”is that the winners serve as spokespeople for America PAC. John Summers, an aide to Lawrence Krasner, called Chris Gober’s comments“full admission of responsibility”. “We just heard (Chris Gober) say that (his) boss called this random lotteryhe estimated. They had promised people that they were going to participate in a random process, but this is a process where people are pre-selected.”
Chris Young, the head of the PAC, said he was surprised to hear Elon Musk describe the drawing as random during the rally on October 19. He said the candidates appear in the videos and give the PAC permission to use their images, and that he personally selects the winners after reviewing their social media and meeting with them outside the event venues , where they are brought on stage to receive the checks.
He also acknowledged that the winners had signed nondisclosure agreements preventing them from speaking about the terms of the contracts. “They couldn’t reveal the truth about how they got the money, could they?» asked John Summers. “That’s right.”replied Chris Young. The lottery for the world’s richest man lies in a gray area of U.S. election law, and legal experts are divided on whether Elon Musk violated federal laws.
