US polls: Elon Musk’s Political Action Committee tells Philadelphia court $1 million recipients ‘not chosen by chance’
- The recipients on Monday and Tuesday will come from Arizona and Michigan, respectively, and therefore will not affect the Pennsylvania election, said Musk PAC’s lawyer Chris Gober
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s Political Action Committee (PAC) has told a Philadelphia court on Monday that “winners” of his $1 million-a-day voter sweepstakes in swing states are not chosen by chance but are instead chosen to be paid “spokespeople” for the group.
The recipients on Monday and Tuesday will come from Arizona and Michigan, respectively, and therefore will not affect the Pennsylvania election, said Musk PAC’s lawyer Chris Gober.
He also said that the recipients are chosen based on their personal stories and sign a contract with the political organization, America PAC.
“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance," Gober said. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”
Musk has committed more than $70 million to the super PAC to help former US president Donald Trump and other Republicans win in the US election.
More than 1 million people from the seven states have registered for the sweepstakes by signing a petition saying they support the right to free speech and to bear arms, the first two amendments to the US Constitution.
The billionaire CEO did not attend the hearing held on Monday, just a day before the US Election Day.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner took the witness stand Monday and called the sweepstakes a scam as he asked the judge to shut it down.
“This was all a political marketing masquerading as a lottery,” Krasner testified. “That’s what it is. A grift.”
Lawyers for Musk and the PAC said they do not plan to extend the lottery beyond Tuesday.
Krasner said the first three winners, starting on October 19, came from Pennsylvania in the days leading up to the state's October 21 voter registration deadline.
Other winners came from the battleground states of Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan. It's not clear if anyone has yet received the money. The PAC pledged they would get it by Nov. 30, according to an exhibit shown in court.
(With inputs from AP)
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First Published:5 Nov 2024, 01:01 AM IST
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