Elon Musk’s Super PAC Gives $1M to 2 Registered Voters in Michigan, Wisconsin Despite DOJ Warning

Elon MuskThe super PAC awarded two $1 million awards to registered voters in Michigan and Wisconsin on Thursday after it was warned by the Justice Department that the payments could be illegal.

The video shown is from a previous report.

These are the first giveaways from the pro-Donald Trump super PAC after news broke Wednesday that the Justice Department sent a letter to the group warning that its “daily” sweepstakes could violate federal election laws against paying for voter registration.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and the richest man in the world, launched the raffles on Saturday and its super PAC had designated a winner each day – until Wednesday. No winners were announced at the time, but two winners were announced Thursday on X, the social media platform that Musk owns.

The group offered no public explanation for the apparent one-day hiatus, and a spokesman for the super PAC declined to comment. It’s unclear when Musk received the Justice Department letter.

Nonpartisan election law experts immediately raised concerns about the sweepstakes after Musk’s initial pitch Saturday during a pro-Trump event in Pennsylvania.

To win the $1 million prize, people must sign a petition stating their support for the rights to free speech and bear arms. However, the fine print on the super PAC’s website specifies that only registered voters in seven battleground states are eligible to sign the petition — which experts said is at the heart of the potential illegality.

Those controversial requirements had not been changed as of Thursday night and are still on the super PAC’s website.

Federal law makes it a crime for anyone to “pay or offer to pay or accept payment for either registration or voting.”

Legal experts previously told CNN that they believe the main problem with Musk’s gift was that voter registration was a prerequisite for entering the sweepstakes. The problem could be solved if the sweepstakes were offered to any American, regardless of registration status.

In response to a post that claimed Musk was “paying to register Republicans,” the tech mogul said the winners “can be from any or no political party, and you don’t even have to vote.” He also criticized Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat and former state attorney general, for questioning the legality of the sweepstakes.

Federal filings show Musk has given nearly $119 million — including about $44 million in October — to America PAC, the super PAC he helped form for Trump’s re-election bid. He said he hopes the raffles will boost Trump voter registration. He recently entered the campaign trail in Pennsylvania, holding events advocating on behalf of Trump, promoting his petition and spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

America PAC also received about $3 million in October from members of the influential DeVos family, including $250,000 from former Trump administration Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who resigned following the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

Those additional donations in October allowed Musk’s group to continue spending tens of millions of dollars on canvassing and field operations in key battleground states, helping the Trump campaign keep pace with Kamala Harris’ record fundraising and massive spending by campaign.