October 31, 2024
Michael Tanenbaum/PhillyVoice
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner and his attorney, John Summers, addressed reporters outside a Philadelphia courtroom at City Hall on Thursday after learning that their lawsuit to block Elon Musk's $1 million voter sweepstakes in Pennsylvania will be sent to federal court.
Elon Musk was not in court Thursday morning for a scheduled hearing on Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's lawsuit challenging Musk's $1 million lotteries intended to entice voter turnout ahead of next week's presidential election, but he is not giving up fighting the case.
On Monday, Krasner's office filed a civil lawsuit claiming Musk's America PAC violated Pennsylvania lottery regulations. On Wednesday night his attorneys filed to have the case moved to federal court. Musk has endorsed former president Donald Trump in his election bid against Kamala Harris, and he is campaigning on Trump's behalf using money and resources from America PAC.
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Krasner and Musk were due to appear in a courtroom at Philadelphia City Hall on Thursday morning. The billionaire tech entrepreneur was not there but his attorney, Matthew Haverstick, was present on his behalf. Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Angelo Foglietta put the case on hold until a federal judge with U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia, could rule on the case's venue.
The move will allow America PAC's lotteries to continue as planned until Election Day.
In Musk's federal court documents, his attorneys cited a century-old legal precedent that gives federal courts jurisdiction over state law claims when "significant federal issues" are involved.
A large group of reporters and media members attended Thursday morning's hearing. Space limitations left many waiting outside the courtroom. Haverstick called Krasner's lawsuit a "publicity stunt" that should not have required Musk to appear in court and create a "circus atmosphere."
Krasner's attorney, John Summers, said it would have been reasonable to expect Musk to show up. Foglietta suggested that wasn't a fair expectation.
"He's not going to get in a rocket ship and take it to Philadelphia – let's be serious here," Foglietta said.
After the hearing, Krasner emerged from the courtroom with Summers, who said they will argue in federal court to keep the case in Pennsylvania's court system.
In recent weeks, Musk has taken on the role of campaign surrogate for Trump, speaking at multiple rallies including one he hosted at Ridley High School in Delaware County earlier this month and Trump's Madison Square Garden rally during the weekend that was notable for the racist remarks and insults uttered by some of the speakers.
Every day leading up to the election, America PAC's sweepstakes is awarding $1 million to one person randomly chosen from one the seven swing states expected to decide the outcome of Tuesday's election. Pennsylvania is among those states. Questions have been raised about whether the lottery violates federal laws against vote-buying.
Entrants in the lottery are required to sign a petition supporting the Constitution's First and Second Amendments. To win, they must also be registered voters. Since Musk is campaigning for Trump, some legal experts have interpreted the lottery as an illegal incentive to get people to register to vote.
Krasner's lawsuit does not allege vote-buying, but rather that America PAC lacked required state oversight to run a lottery and didn't provide clear rules to the public. The suit also questioned America PAC's claim that the winners of the $1 million checks have been randomly chosen.
In the court filing to move the case to federal court, Musk's attorneys said Krasner made federal election interference a "central theme" of the lawsuit, despite using state law violations as a pretext for taking Musk to court.
"The nature of the Complaint's pleadings demonstrates that the Complaint, in truth, has little to with state-law claims of nuisance and consumer protection," Musk's attorneys wrote. "Rather, although disguised as state law claims, the Complaint's focus is to prevent Defendents' purported 'interference' with the forthcoming Federal Presidential Election by any means ..."
The U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to America PAC this week warning that its lottery could be a violation of federal law, but no formal action has been taken at the federal level.
Musk has invested nearly $120 million in America PAC. The Tesla and SpaceX founder has said his efforts are intended to turn out votes from an extra 1-2 million people in swing states. In the event that Trump wins, Musk could be tapped for a role in his administration to reduce government spending.
