Former Republican Justice Department and other officials sent a letter Monday to Democratic Attorney General Merrick Garland requesting he open an investigation into billionaire Elon Musk’s cash prizes to registered voters in swing states.
Musk, through his America PAC, is selecting a $1 million lottery winner each day until the election to registered voters who sign a petition saying they support the First and Second Amendments.
The petition signers must be registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.
Sign our petition to support the Constitution of the United States! https://t.co/pYZ1B7l9SX
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 21, 2024
Musk handed out the first two checks for $1 million at a Donald Trump rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
Every night, @America will announce another $1M winner!
All you have to do is sign our petition in support of The Constitution. https://t.co/Zsda5ao2In
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2024
America PAC is also awarding $47 to every one who recruits a registered voter to sign the petition.
On Monday, 11 former Republican officials sent a letter to Garland, as well as the attorney general of Pennsylvania and all the district attorneys offices in the state, saying, “We are aware of nothing like this in modern political history.”
“Federal law, 52 U.S.C. § 10307(c), imposes up to five years in prison on anyone who ‘knowingly or willfully . . . pays or offers to pay or accepts payment . . . for registration to vote,’” they added. The legal provision the former officials cite also carries up to a $10,000 fine for each violation.
“We urge you to investigate whether America PAC’s payments are prohibited payments for voter registration. We recognize that they are framed as payments for signing a petition, or for referring voters who sign. But many of the payments are restricted to registered voters, so anyone who wishes to get paid must first register,” the former GOP officials argued.
Musk responded to the allegation that he was paying people to register to vote writing on X, “All you need to do is sign the @America petition in support of the Constitutional rights to free speech & bear arms to have a daily chance of winning $1,000,000! You can be from any or no political party and you don’t even have to vote.”
All you need to do is sign the @America petition in support of the Constitutional rights to free speech & bear arms to have a daily chance of winning $1,000,000!
You can be from any or no political party and you don’t even have to vote. https://t.co/vF93mBnBJd
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 20, 2024
Former GOP New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, who has endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris for president, is among the more prominent signers of the letter urging Garland to investigate Musk.
Others include Donald Ayer, deputy attorney general under President George H.W. Bush; Trevor Potter, former chairman of the Federal Election Commission (1991-1995); and Olivia Troye, special advisor to former Vice President Mike Pence.
CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane posted on X that the DOJ confirmed receipt of the letter, but it did not say whether an investigation has been opened.
Justice Dept confirms receipt of the letter… but declines to comment further
The former GOP-appointed officials want a DOJ review of Musk’s effort
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) October 22, 2024
Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who previously served as attorney general of the state, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday that he finds the Musk payments “deeply concerning.”
“Musk obviously has a right to be able to express his views,” Shapiro explained. “He’s made it very, very clear that he supports Donald Trump. I don’t — obviously, we have a difference of opinion. I don’t deny him that right. But when you start flowing this kind of money into politics, I think it raises serious questions that folks may want to take a look at.”
Michael Kang, an election law professor at Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law, told the Associated Press the legality of the payments is unclear.
“It’s not quite the same as paying someone to vote,” he said, “but you’re getting close enough that we worry about its legality.”
