Elon Musk has been ordered by a federal judge to face a lawsuit by voters accusing him of defrauding them into signing a petition to support the US Constitution for a chance to win his $US1 million ($1.5 million) giveaways.
US District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin, Texas said on Wednesday, local time, Arizona resident Jacqueline McAferty plausibly alleged in her proposed class action that Mr Musk and his political action committee, America PAC, wrongly induced her to provide personal identifying information as part of the giveaway, late in the 2024 election campaign.
Lawyers for Mr Musk and America PAC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mr Musk founded America PAC to support Republican Donald Trump’s successful 2024 presidential run.
Ms McAferty said Mr Musk and America PAC induced voters in seven battleground states to sign his petition by promising that people would be chosen randomly to win $US1 million, as in a lottery, though the voters had no real chance to collect.
She said voters who signed were also required to provide names, addresses, emails and phone numbers.
In seeking a dismissal, Mr Musk listed several “red flags” as proof he had not run an illegal lottery.
He said these included statements that the recipients of $US1 million were “selected to earn” the money and expected to become America PAC spokespeople, defeating the idea that the payment was a “prize”.
But the judge cited other statements suggesting the defendants were “awarding” the $US1 million, and the money could be “won”.
Elon Musk gives $US1million to woman for signing petition.
“It is plausible that plaintiff justifiably relied on those statements to believe that defendants were objectively offering her the chance to enter a random lottery — even if that is not what they subjectively intended to do,” Judge Pitman wrote.
The judge was appointed to the bench by US president Barack Obama in 2014.
Mr Musk had also rejected the suggestion that petition signers suffered harm by providing contact information.
Judge Pitman said an expert in political data brokerage could testify to what that information was worth for voters in battleground states.
The lawsuit was filed on election day, November 5, 2024.
On November 4, a Philadelphia judge refused to end Mr Musk’s giveaway, saying that the city’s top prosecutor failed to show it was an illegal lottery.
Leave a Reply