What to Know
- A Philadelphia judge said the $1 million voter sweepstakes linked to Elon Musk was allowed to continue through Election Day because prosecutors failed to show that it was an illegal lottery.
- District Attorney Larry Krasner called the daily sweepstakes a scam. But Common Pleas Judge Angelo Foglietta in an opinion Tuesday said Musk's political action committee made it clear they were choosing paid spokespeople.
- Musk committed more than $70 million to America PAC to help Donald Trump return to the White House and other Republicans win. He has now been tapped to help lead a government efficiency effort.
The $1 million voter sweepstakes linked to billionaire Elon Musk was allowed to continue through Election Day because Philadelphia’s top prosecutor failed to show that it was an illegal lottery, a judge said in a new opinion.
District Attorney Larry Krasner had filed suit last month to try to have the sweepstakes shut down under Pennsylvania law.
“Although (Krasner) alleges that America PAC and Elon Musk ‘scammed’ people,” Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta wrote in the opinion Tuesday, “DA Krasner failed to provide any evidence of misuse beyond mere speculation.”
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
The prize was open only to swing state voters who signed a petition endorsing the constitutional right to free speech and to bear arms. Lawyers for the PAC revealed in court on Nov. 4 that the recipients did not win a game of chance, but were instead chosen to be paid spokespeople for the group.
Musk, who committed more than $70 million to the political action committee to help Donald Trump return to the White House and other Republicans win, has now been tapped to help lead a government efficiency effort.
Krasner argued that the more than 1 million people who registered were “scammed for their information.” Musk’s lawyers, defending the effort, called it “core political speech.”
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Foglietta had denied Krasner’s petition after last week's hearing, but only explained his reasoning in the opinion. He said he did not want to issue a “superfluous” order, given that there was only one sweepstakes remaining by then — and Musk’s lawyers had said the last person chosen would not be from Pennsylvania.
“We respectfully disagree with the judge’s opinion,” Krasner said Wednesday in a statement.
Musk is the CEO and largest shareholder of Tesla. He also owns the social media platform X and the rocket ship maker SpaceX.
