Elon Musk PAC receives warning from Justice Department that $1 million contest may be illegal | Wilnesh News

this U.S. Department of Justice The company has warned Elon Musk’s super PAC that its $1 million daily voter sweepstakes could violate federal election laws, a person familiar with the matter told NBC News on Wednesday.

A letter from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Division to America PAC, a group largely funded by Musk that supports Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, was revealed. legal expert Questions were raised about unusual giveaways.

Musk, CEO Tesla SpaceX announced on Saturday that he would donate $1 million a day to randomly registered voters in seven key battleground states who signed the PAC petition.

The qualifying states — Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina — are among the most competitive in the race between Trump and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris battlefield.

Federal law prohibits paying people to vote or register to vote. The petition itself does not require signatories to list their political party affiliations, but does ask for personal information, including email addresses and mobile phone numbers.

It was unclear when the Justice Department sent the letter, which was reported earlier Wednesday CNN and election blog 24Sight News. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice declined CNBC’s request for comment.

The letter was reportedly addressed to US PAC lawyer Chris Gober, who did not immediately respond when contacted by CNBC.

Musk is the world’s richest man and one of Trump’s biggest supporters in winning the White House. U.S. political action committees spent more than $100 million on the presidential election, the vast majority of which came from Musk himself.

— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed reporting.