The Justice Department warned Elon Musk that his $1 million giveaway could come with a prison sentence—and it appears he’s actually paying attention.
After receiving a warning from the Justice Department, Elon Musk has stopped his $1 million giveaway to swing voters from his super PAC.
The tech CEO pledged Saturday to give away the hefty sum each day to one registered voter in a battleground state who signed America PAC’s pro–First and Second Amendment pledge. Every day since then, a winner has been announced: three Pennsylvania voters and one North Carolina voter.
However, the move immediately raised legal questions, as it’s a federal crime to pay someone to register to vote, punishable by a fine of $10,000, five years in prison, or both. Experts were divided, with Musk’s plan falling into a legal gray area at best. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro called the move “deeply concerning,” and author Stephen King accused Musk of “paying to register Republicans.”
Bingo, the wording of what he’s giving it away for has nothing to do with registering to vote. It is about signing his PAC if you are already registered to vote. If you yourself determine that voting would be a reason to register and you also sign his PAC well, then you get $1 million. There’s nothing illegal about that and Elon only got a warning, if it was something illegal, he would’ve been arrested for already doing it before, they issued that “warning”.
From what I’ve been reading, it’s so close to vote buying and similar crimes it’s a legal grey area at best.