Judge declines to block Elon Musk $1 million voter giveaway as billionaire seeks to move case
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania state judge said on Thursday he would not immediately move forward with a lawsuit that seeks to stop Elon Musk’s $1 million voter giveaway ahead of the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election.
At a hearing in Pennsylvania, Judge Angelo Foglietta said he would place the lawsuit on hold while a federal court considers whether to take up the case.
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Musk’s bid to move the case frees him to continue the giveaway, because the matter likely won’t be resolved until after Tuesday’s election.
The billionaire entrepreneur, who is spending heavily to back Republican Donald Trump, had been ordered to attend the hearing but did not appear.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner is seeking to halt the giveaway less than a week before the tightly contested presidential election between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.
Krasner, who championed progressive causes when running for district attorney, accuses Tesla CEO Musk and his political action committee America PAC of hatching an “illegal lottery scheme to influence voters.”
Musk has been giving $1 million checks to randomly selected people who sign a petition pledging support for free speech and gun rights.
The offer is limited to registered voters in one of seven states that will likely decide the outcome of the Nov. 5 election — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Musk gave away the first $1 million at an Oct. 19 America PAC rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania’s state capital.
