Elon Musk and his America PAC deceived more than a million swing-staters who trusted that winners of a $1 million-a-day giveaway would be chosen at random, a lawyer for Philadelphia’s district attorney told a judge on Monday.
Instead, the $1 million windfalls are handed out based on PAC officials’ determination of “suitability,” an attorney for Musk said Monday.
The DA’s office criticism came during closing arguments at a hearing where a judge is expected to decide by the end of the day if the giveaway can continue in Pennsylvania. Judge Angelo Foglietta of Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas said just before 4 p.m. that he will be issuing a decision “shortly.”
“It’s one of the biggest scams of the last 50 years,” the DA’s attorney, John S. Summers, said during closing arguments at the day-long hearing.
Summers was in court, in Philadelphia’s City Hall, on behalf of Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner, who seeks an immediate halt to Musk’s giveaway, which his lawsuit calls an unauthorized and deceptive lottery.
The giveaway is aimed at swing-state Republicans, and is open only to registered voters. It has been criticized by Democrats as a GOP cash-for-registration drive, and the Justice Department warned Musk in a letter sent last month sent
At one point in closing arguments, Summers called Musk and the America PAC “fraudulent shysters.”
“I will withdraw the word ‘shyster’ your honor,” Summers said when the judge called the descriptor “inappropriate.”
Lawyers for Musk said winners were not chosen at random, asserting that the million-dollar awards are not winnings from a lottery. Instead, Musk’s lawyers argued, recipients are being compensated as spokespeople for the PAC.
The judge did not say whether an injunction would stop the giveaway in Philadelphia or in all of Pennsylvania.
“There is no prize,” Chris Gober, an attorney for Musk and the PAC, told the judge.
“We ask people to sign the petition and to ask others to sign the petition” in support of the First and Second Amendments, Gober said.
“There are payments for that,” Gober told the judge, referring to Musk’s promise that petition signers will get either $47 or $100 for each pledge they sign and succeed in getting others to sign.
“We then determine which individuals would serve as a spokesperson for us,” Gober said, based on their “suitability” and “background.”
To date, 17 people — all of whom have signed NDAs — have been promised $1 million pay as “spokespersons” for the PAC, including four from Pennsylvania, according to testimony and exhibits from Monday. The $1 million is supposed to be paid on or before November 30, according to one contract entered into evidence.
The PAC did not immediately return a request for comment about whether the $1 million wins were paid out.
But checks are either mailed or in the mail for 18,000 people in Philadelphia County who have been promised either $47 or $100 for signing the PAC petition, Gober said in court, including nearly 8,000 payments that “are supposed to be mailed tomorrow.”
PAC expenditures for the petition program don’t have to be publicly recorded until December 8, Gober added.
Krasner himself took the stand as a witness in his own lawsuit, questioned by Summers.
During more than an hour of testimony, Krasner said he owns a Tesla and doesn’t let being a Democrat influence his actions as a district attorney.
“I’m an old car mechanic. I like a Tesla,” he said to some laughter in the courtroom, adding he’s had the car since 2016.
“I have brought actions against Democrats in the past,” Krasner said. “I would have brought an action against Taylor Swift if she had done this.”
Musk did not attend the hearing, but Krasner’s legal team played videos of the Tesla and SpaceX founder announcing the giveaway and displayed X posts in which he praised it. Musk repeatedly refers to people being “awarded” the $1 million windfall randomly.
“I’ve got 37 years in the courts, and “it’s one of the most disingenuous things I’ve ever heard,” Krasner said from the witness stand of Musk’s characterization of the windfalls as spokesperson consultancy fees.
Krasner requested heightened security for court hearings related to the lawsuit.
Lawyers for the DA said that he has been receiving “an avalanche of posts from Musk’s followers” on X, where the billionaire has 202.7 million followers, a request for heightened security filed Wednesday said.
Many of Musk’s followers “made antisemitic attacks on Krasner,” the filing said.
One X user posted Krasner’s family’s home address and urged those who disagree with the lawsuit to “mask up” and attend the hearing, the filing said.
This story was updated throughout the hearing on Monday.
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