The winners of Elon Musk’s lottery are not chosen at random, but rather selected based on whether they’d be a good spokesperson for Musk’s super PAC, the billionaire’s lawyer claimed in a court hearing on Monday.
Last week, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner sued to halt the X CEO’s lottery, in which he’s been giving away $1 million a day to a registered voter in battleground states who sign a petition supporting free speech put out by Musk’s “America PAC.” Krasner, in his filing, called the giveaway an “illegal lottery."
But in a hearing on Monday, Musk’s lawyer Chris Gober tried to defend the giveaway’s legality, revealing that recipients are not chosen at random.
"There is no prize to be won, instead recipients must fulfill contractual obligations to serve as a spokesperson for the PAC," Gober said at the hearing, which occurred just a day before the 2024 presidential election.
“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance. We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow,” Gober claimed.
Since Oct. 19, Musk, who did not attend the hearing, has given a $1 million dollar check to 16 registered voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The South African businessman has been an outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump and has donated over $70 million to America PAC in support of his presidential campaign.
At the hearing, the Philadelphia district attorney asked Judge Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta to shut Musk’s lottery down.
“This was all a political marketing masquerading as a lottery. That’s what it is. A grift,” Krasner testified. He added that he would seek financial penalties against Musk and America PAC, but would not go after the recipients of Musk's giveaway.
