Elon Musk seeks to move $1M swing state voter giveaway case to federal court

Elon Musk is attempting to move to federal court a lawsuit challenging his $1 million daily giveaways to registered voters in swing and battleground states, throwing into question a scheduled Thursday hearing in Pennsylvania that Musk is required to attend. 

A Pennsylvania judge ordered Musk to attend the hearing slated for 10 a.m. ET on Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s (D) bid to block the billionaire’s giveaways. 

But federal law provides that when a defendant attempts to move a civil lawsuit to federal court, a process known as removal, the state court “shall proceed no further” until the defendant’s attempt is rejected. 

Musk’s attorneys began the removal process on Wednesday night, just hours before the scheduled hearing, arguing that the case should be moved because it presents significant federal issues. 

“In short, the nature of the Complaint’s pleadings demonstrates that the Complaint, in truth, has little to do with state-law claims of nuisance and consumer protection,” Musk’s attorneys wrote in court filings. “Rather, although disguised as state law claims, the Complaint’s focus is to prevent Defendants’ purported ‘interference’ with the forthcoming Federal Presidential Election by any means.” 

Krasner’s office declined to comment. 

The Philadelphia district attorney sued Musk and America PAC, his pro-Trump super PAC, on Monday, arguing that the sweepstakes are an “illegal lottery” under Pennsylvania law and calling for the giveaways to be halted before next Tuesday’s election. 

The super PAC launched the sweepstakes earlier this month. The daily $1 million giveaways are open to registered voters in seven battlegrounds states, including Pennsylvania, who sign the PAC’s petition supporting free speech and the right to bear arms. 

The giveaways almost immediately drew scrutiny, reportedly prompting the Department of Justice (DOJ) to send America PAC a letter warning that they likely violate a federal law against paying people to register to vote.  

However, the PAC has continued with the daily giveaways despite the warning. It has given out 11 million-dollar checks so far, and the giveaways are set to continue through Election Day. 

The state court hearing on Krasner’s lawsuit was originally scheduled for Friday. The judge changed it to Thursday and moved it to city hall after Krasner cited security concerns posed by a deluge of threats he received since launching the case earlier this week.