Trump Impeachment Attorney Says Musk’s Voter Giveaway Scheme May Be Illegal: ‘That’s a Problem in Both State and Federal Law’
Elon Musk’s multimillion ploy to incentivize people to vote may be illegal, according to a former impeachment attorney for Donald Trump.
A PAC belonging to the Trump-supporting billionaire owner of X has published a petition voters can sign to ostensibly support the First and Second Amendments.
“We are going to be awarding $1 million randomly to people who have signed the petition, every day, from now until the election,” Musk said at a campaign event in Pennsylvania over the weekend. The lottery-style giveaway is only available to registered voters in the swing states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Many election lawyers have cried foul, deeming the arrangement illegal.
Bruce Castor, who was a Trump impeachment attorney and served as Pennsylvania’s Acting Attorney General, joined Monday’s Dan Abrams Live, where he explained the legally problematic issues with Musk’s giveaways.
“I think it’s questionable,” the Republican told Dan Abrams, who is the founder of Mediaite. “Certainly, under Pennsylvania law, the definition of what’s called a lottery is pretty broad. I mean, I used to get cases all the time where somebody wanted to raffle off a car or some valuable item – even if it was for charity – and I would have to say, ‘Look, you can’t do this. You have to try to find another way.'”
Castor said he does not think the issue is “black and white.” But, he added, “I don’t think it’s a good idea, and I would hope Mr. Musk would reconsider doing these sorts of things. It doesn’t look good. It has a bad vibe about it.”
“Is the issue as a legal matter, the paying or the offering of money?” Abrams asked. “Or the potential lottery issue that you lay out?”
Castor responded:
Well, it’s both. There’s actually a third one, too. It’s paying people to encourage them to register. So, what’s happening is that he’s creating an incentive for people to register to vote so they could potentially win this prize. So, that’s sort of a backdoor way of paying people, at least with a chance of a remuneration if they register. So, he’s enhancing registration with a financial incentive.
So, that’s a problem in both state and federal law. Then there’s the issue of a lottery. I mean, Pennsylvania, like every other state that runs lotteries, wants a monopoly, and anything that has to do with chance – even if what you’re you’re doing is signing a petition to get the chance – the state is against. And there’s the third thing, is whether anything that Mr. Musk is doing here is done with the intent to influence an election. In that event, it needs to be reported as such. And there are very strict reporting timetables for such things this close to the election. I think there are rules that require reporting on a daily or weekly basis.
Watch above via NewsNation.
