On October 20, 2024, SpaceX and Tesla founder Musk spoke at a town hall with Republican candidate U.S. Senator Dave McCormick at the Roxon Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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Elon Musk and his political action committee are seeking to move the Philadelphia district attorney’s lawsuit over his $1 million daily lottery for swing state voters from state to federal court.
Lawyers for Musk and his U.S. political action committee filed a notice of withdrawal in Pennsylvania federal court Wednesday night, hours after a Philadelphia County Common Pleas Court judge ordered the lawsuit to be dismissed. Tesla The chief executive attended an emergency hearing in the case in person to determine whether the lottery should be stopped.
The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. in Philadelphia City Hall Court.
It’s unclear whether the hearing in which Musk is ordered to appear in person will go ahead as planned, given that the federal court has issued a notice of removal.
Generally, federal law prohibits litigation in state court if a party to the case has filed an eviction notice in federal court and a copy of that notice is filed in state court.
The notice filed by lawyers for Musk and his U.S. PAC said that because the PAC is registered as a federal entity, it is not subject to state law.
“Although the Complaint purports to raise only state law claims related to public nuisance and consumer protection, it is apparent from the Complaint that District Attorney Krasner’s claims primarily address the defendants’ claim that they acted in some manner to unlawfully interfere with a federal election. charges,” the document said.
Krasner filed the lawsuit in General Court on Monday, claiming that Musk’s $1 million giveaway was an illegal, unregulated lottery. A hearing on Krasner’s request for an emergency injunction to prevent the lottery from continuing was scheduled for Friday.
Krasner’s attorneys raised security concerns in a court filing on Wednesday as Musk’s social media followers made “anti-Semitic attacks” on the district attorney, with one follower posting online that the prosecutor ‘s home address. Lawyers also asked the judge in the case to order Musk and a representative from the American Political Action Committee to appear in person at Friday’s hearing.
Late Wednesday, a judge rescheduled the hearing for Thursday morning and ordered Musk and PAC personnel to attend.
Musk and his US political action committee are offering so-called random cash rewards to people who sign a “Support the Constitution” petition in one of seven battleground states. The district attorney’s lawsuit alleges that Musk attempted to sway voters in the election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Musk strongly supported Trump in the election.
“American PAC and Musk are tricking the citizens of Philadelphia and other citizens of the Commonwealth (and other battleground states in the upcoming election) into giving up their personally identifiable information and making political pledges in exchange for a chance to win $1 million. ,” Krasner’s lawsuit states. “That’s the lottery.”
USA Ministry of Justice American PACs have previously been warned that the giveaways could violate federal election laws but have not yet filed a court case to stop them.
America PAC said it has donated a total of $12 million in lottery tickets.
Four of the $1 million prizes were awarded to people in Pennsylvania, the most of any swing state eligible for the award.
—Additional reporting by NBC News’ Lisa Rubin
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