The
Department
of
Justice
sent
America
PAC
—
the
political
action
committee
Elon
Musk
set
up
to
help
reelect
former
President
Donald
Trump
—
a
letter
warning
that
Musk’s
$1
million
lottery
targeting
swing
state
voters
may
be
illegal.
It’s
the
latest
government
attempt
to
regulate
Musk,
but
it
may
go
nowhere,
even
though
campaign
finance
experts
are
adamant
that
he
broke
the
law.
A
vocal
Trump
supporter,
Musk
is
using
his
vast
fortune
to
influence
the
election.
He’s
contributed
$75
million
to
the
PAC
thus
far
and
has
been
stumping
for
Trump
in
Pennsylvania,
a
battleground
state,
since
last
week.
But
Musk’s
actions
go
far
beyond
typical
— and
legal
—
wealthy
donor
behavior.
Musk
has
made
payouts
to
voters
a
key
element
of
his
campaigning.
His
rallies
are
only
open
to
registered
Pennsylvania
voters
who
sign
an
America
PAC
petition
saying
they
support
the
First
and
Second
Amendments.
At
the
first
of
these
events,
he
gave
a
$1
million
check
to
a
randomly
selected
audience
member,
saying
he’d
keep
awarding
sweepstakes-style
prizes
to
petition
signatories
every
day
until
November
5th.
Musk’s
goal
is
to
publicly
display
his
support
for
Trump
The
problem
is
that
while
you
can
encourage
people
to
vote
or
register
in
a
US
election,
you
aren’t
allowed
to
compensate
them
for
doing
so.
Under
52
USC
10307(c),
anyone
who
“pays
or
offers
to
pay
or
accepts
payment
either
for
registration
to
vote
or
for
voting”
can
be
fined
up
to
$10,000
or
be
sentenced
to
up
to
five
years
in
prison.
Michael
Kang,
a
professor
of
campaign
finance
law
at
Northwestern
University,
says
extra
steps
like
the
petition
don’t
change
the
fundamental
facts.
“In
the
end,
this
violates
the
federal
statute
against
paying
someone
to
register
to
vote
for
a
federal
election,”
Kang
told
The
Verge.
“This
isn’t
paying
someone
to
register
to
vote,
but
requiring
them
to
be
a
registered
voter
in
order
to
qualify
for
the
prize.”
America
PAC
changed
the
messaging
around
the
petition
on
Sunday,
calling
it
payment
for
serving
as
“a
spokesperson
for
America
PAC.”
But
the
fine
print
of
the
sweepstakes
remains
the
same
—
and
probably
just
as
illegal
as
before.
“If
it
was
next
summer
—
not
connected
to
a
presidential
election
coming
up
in
a
month
—
and
was
just
intended
to
collect
data
on
people
who
support
the
Second
Amendment,
that
would
be
fine,”
Kang
said
of
the
petition.
“I
think
the
context
is
really
critical.
It’s
not
just
the
requirements
of
the
program,
it’s
how
it’s
being
presented.”
Election
watchdogs
caught
onto
the
move
quickly.
On
Tuesday,
the
Department
of
Justice
confirmed
that
it
had
received
a
letter
from
11
former
government
officials
—
who
described
themselves
as
having
“served
in
senior
legal
and
law-enforcement
roles
under
every
Republican
president
from
Richard
Nixon
to
Donald
Trump”
—
urging
the
DOJ
to
investigate
the
America
PAC
sweepstakes.
And
on
Wednesday,
the
consumer
advocacy
group
Public
Citizen
filed
a
complaint
with
the
Federal
Election
Commission
warning
that
America
PAC
may
have
violated
campaign
finance
law.
Craig
Holman,
the
government
affairs
lobbyist
with
Public
Citizen
who
filed
the
complaint,
told
The
Verge
that
Musk’s
petition
was
clearly
illegal.
“The
expectation
there
definitely
appears
to
be
that
Musk
was
hoping
to
generate
a
lot
of
people
—
especially
conservatives,
because
the
petition
is
a
very
conservative-oriented
document
—
to
come
out
of
the
woodwork
and
register
to
vote
so
they
can
sign
the
petition,”
Holman
said.
“That
is
an
illegal
payment
to
encourage
voter
registration.”
The
DOJ
warned
Musk
about
his
behavior,
several
people
familiar
with
the
matter
told
CNN.
But
we’re
a
long
way
from
Musk
facing
serious
consequences
for
the
move,
including
prison.
“I’d
be
a
little
surprised
if
we
get
to
that
point.
I
don’t
think
the
goal
here
would
be
to
put
Elon
Musk
in
jail
for
a
number
of
years,”
Kang
said,
adding
that
the
DOJ
is
typically
hesitant
to
take
public
action
right
before
a
presidential
election.
Instead,
the
department’s
goal
is
to
“stop
him
from
doing
this.”
Choosing
to
prosecute
Musk
could
backfire
for
the
DOJ,
especially
before
the
election.
“Musk’s
goal
is
to
publicly
display
his
support
for
Trump,”
Kang
said.
“His
audience
is
Donald
Trump
and
his
supporters.
The
idea
that
federal
prosecutors
may
come
after
him
just
helps
him.”
Related
It’s
unclear,
however,
what
would
stop
Musk.
(A
$10,000
fine
presumably
won’t
do
much.)
The
billionaire
has
a
long
history
of
disregarding
things
like
safety
regulations,
and
there’s
no
reason
to
believe
he’ll
be
any
more
careful
with
election
law.
In
their
letter
to
the
DOJ,
the
election
officials
urged
the
agency
to
overrule
concerns
about
appearing
partisan.
“We
are
aware
of
nothing
like
this
in
modern
political
history,”
the
officials’
letter
read.
“Law
enforcement
agencies
are
appropriately
reluctant
to
take
action
shortly
before
elections
that
could
affect
how
people
vote.
But
serious
questions
arising
under
laws
that
directly
regulate
the
voting
process
must
be
an
exception.
Otherwise,
individuals
may
act
with
impunity,
with
consequences
if
any
coming
only
long
after
the
damage
is
already
done.”
Impunity
may
be
exactly
what
Musk
is
seeking
by
supporting
Trump.
As
Public
Citizen
noted
in
a
recent
report,
several
Musk-owned
companies
are
under
investigation
by
a
bevy
of
government
agencies.
The
DOJ,
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission,
the
National
Highway
Traffic
Safety
Administration,
the
Equal
Employment
Opportunity
Commission,
the
National
Labor
Relations
Board,
the
Federal
Aviation
Administration,
and
the
Environmental
Protection
Agency
have
all
probed
or
filed
charges
against
Musk-owned
companies.
If
the
investigations
continue,
Musk
could
not
only
face
fines
but
may
also
be
ordered
to
alter
practices
at
his
various
companies
—
a
possibility
that
could
end
up
costing
him
a
lot
more
than
$1
million
per
day.
By
contrast,
Trump
could
order
many
of
these
investigations
or
charges
to
be
dropped.
“There
are
many
ways
that
someone
in
Elon
Musk’s
position
could
benefit,”
Rick
Claypool,
the
Public
Citizen
researcher
who
authored
the
report,
told
The
Verge.
Musk,
like
nearly
all
of
the
surrogates
campaigning
on
behalf
of
a
presidential
candidate
at
this
stage
in
the
game,
knows
the
election
will
likely
be
decided
by
a
small
number
of
voters
in
a
few
key
states.
In
2020,
Biden
won
Pennsylvania
by
just
over
81,000
votes
out
of
more
than
6
million
cast
in
the
state.
The
first
three
winners
of
the
sweepstakes
were
registered
Republicans
who
had
already
voted
by
mail
before
getting
the
prize
money,
according
to
The
Philadelphia
Inquirer.
But
if
a
few
hundred
—
or
thousand
—
people
register
to
vote
at
Musk’s
behest,
the
petition
and
associated
financial
promises
may
help
move
the
needle.
Even
if
it
doesn’t,
a
lack
of
governmental
action
could
send
the
message
that
it’s
easier
than
ever
to
buy
an
election.
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