Elon Musk Handed Big Win By PA Court — $1 Million Lottery GRANTED Approval To PROCEED!

A Pennsylvania Judge has ruled Elon Musk’s America PAC can proceed to continue its $1 million-a-day giveaway contest through November 5.

Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta ruled against Philadephia’s district attorney, Larry Krasner, who claimed that Musk’s sweepstakes was an illegal lottery grift that violates state law.

The America PAC founded by Musk gives $1 million away to selected voters in swing states who sign a pledge to support the Constitution.

Foglietta argued that the PAC’s giveaway was “a political marketing masquerading as a lottery.”

Attorney Chris Gober, who represented Musk’s America PAC, argued, “The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance; we know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”

BREAKING FROM PHILLY:

Elon Musk wins in Pennsylvania court.

The judge just ruled that Musk CAN continue his $1 million sweepstakes, declining to issue an injunction against America PAC.

Musk’s team had argued that their paid spokespeople were not lottery winners. Larry… pic.twitter.com/AObJ2o2v5l

— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) November 4, 2024

A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that Elon Musk’s daily $1 million giveaway to voters can continue, in a victory for the tech billionaire https://t.co/HSpEr4RFCw

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) November 4, 2024

Here’s what Fox News reported:

A Pennsylvania judge is allowing Elon Musk’s America PAC to continue its $1 million a day contest through Nov. 5, according to a ruling on Monday.

The ruling by Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta came hours after Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s testimony against America PAC on Monday. Kramer argued that the “sweepstakes” violates election laws and that it should be shut down.

Appearing as a witness on Monday, Krasner called the contest “a grift.”

“This was all a political marketing masquerading as a lottery,” the district attorney said.

Earlier that day, it was revealed that the winners of America PAC’s giveaway are not randomly selected. The effort, which asks voters in swing states to sign a petition to potentially win $1 million, appears to be more of a contest.

Attorney Chris Gober said on Monday that the winners of the giveaway were picked based on personal stories that they shared, and that they all signed nondisclosure agreements.

“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance,” America PAC attorney Chris Gober said in court on Monday. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”

America PAC’s contest involves giving $1 million to one swing state voter per day until Election Day. The initiative was announced by Musk in October, who described it as a random sweepstakes at a rally for former President Trump on Oct. 19.

Pennsylvania judge rules Elon Musk’s $1M voter giveaways can continue https://t.co/2WvBd8M67c pic.twitter.com/WalJgnfjTt

— New York Post (@nypost) November 4, 2024

Per CNN:

A Pennsylvania judge ruled Monday that Elon Musk’s daily $1 million giveaway to voters can continue, in a victory for the tech billionaire and Donald Trump ally.

Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Angelo Foglietta rejected arguments from the city’s district attorney, Larry Krasner, who argued that the sweepstakes was an illegal lottery violating state law and must be halted immediately.

The ruling came shortly after an all-day hearing in a packed courtroom in downtown Philadelphia. The hearing was heated at times, with Krasner’s team calling Musk’s political team “shysters” who are running a “scam” and “grift” – and Musk’s team accusing the district attorney of pursuing a “dreadful violation of constitutional rights.”

Krasner, a progressive Democrat, filed the lawsuit one week ago. The daily giveaways from Musk’s pro-Trump super PAC continued as the issue worked its way through the courts – despite Krasner’s lawsuit and a Justice Department warning that the cash prizes might also violate federal election laws.

Musk and his lawyers have called Krasner’s lawsuit a “publicity stunt” and accused him of bringing the case because he disagrees with Musk’s advocacy in support of Trump.

In court Monday, Musk’s lawayers said the super PAC isn’t picking winners “by chance.”

“There is no prize to be won,” Musk lawyer Chris Gober said, and the winners “are not chosen by chance.”

Here’s a great video explaining exactly how and why the Judge ruled in favor of Elon:

FULL TRANSCRIPT:

Hey, sorry about this—I have to re-upload this video because I made a mistake in the last one with audio. But basically, Elon just won. Okay, Elon’s not going to jail. There were a lot of impressions that Elon was going to go to jail for putting together, you know, an illegal lottery. That’s because there are sections of the election code that basically say if you bribe somebody to register to vote—you offer them liquor, beer, social assistance, money, lottery chances, or anything that resembles a bribe to get them to register to vote—that is a crime.

Therefore, a lot of people were putting things together and thinking, “Oh, Elon Musk is going to jail.” Well, good news: Elon Musk, at least for this, is not going to jail. He just won. The Philadelphia court just stated that the Elon PAC is allowed to continue and proceed with their lottery. You can see right here, here’s the petition—the petition for injunctive relief is denied.

This is because some lawyers sued the Elon Musk political action committee and basically begged the judge to force the shutdown of Elon Musk’s $1 million support-the-petition program. Now, I’m going to explain what actually ended up happening and potentially how they got through this loophole. We don’t have a judicial statement just yet, though. Usually, what happens when things are so time-sensitive—it’s the day before the election—is that you get a really quick ruling from a judge. You know, it’s just a bench decision. This is very common; I’ve been through this process myself. These election-related cases get processed first and very quickly, and a ruling will come later with the decision and all the extra stuff. I mean, the ruling is out, but the decision and all the notes are yet to come.

One of the defenses the Musk PAC put together was that these were not actually randomly selected winners. This was not a lottery chance, not a sweepstakes. Instead, if you signed the petition, you had the chance of being hired by the political action committee and being paid a million dollars to become a spokesperson for it.

Okay, well, that’s very different. People’s expectation was that you would sign and have a random chance at a million dollars. But what actually happened was that they presumably either had people sign the petition and then hired others, or they picked people from the petition—or maybe both—to make it clear this wasn’t a sweepstakes. They handpicked people to be representatives of their campaign in America, saying, “Hey, if you say XYZ on camera, we’ll give you a million dollars.” There are plenty of examples of the Elon PAC videos where people are sitting there with their million-dollar check and saying, “I just want to support freedom in America, I want to support the Constitution, I want to support free speech,” etc.

That’s really what this is. It’s a theme or tool to gamify the election a bit, make it fun and engaging, get PR, and pick spokespeople who seem like they fit the campaign. They’re just normal Americans saying, “Yeah, I want to sign for this.” Look at what the petition looks like. The petition right here says “Petition in favor of free speech and the right to bear arms. The First and Second Amendments guaranteeing free speech and the right to bear arms. By signing below and pledging my support…”

Their goal is to get 1 million registered voters in swing states to sign in support of the Constitution and free speech. It’s a little dicey, but then they mention here, “Each person may sign the petition once.” They even mention, “Special offer for Pennsylvania registered voters: Sign this petition and get $100. Refer a petition signer and get $100.”

It’s definitely towing the line, but I think this is a big win for Elon Musk. He got a lot of media attention around this, with people thinking, “Oh, Elon’s going to jail,” or “Oh no, he’s doing an illegal lottery.” But he got so much press attention and is now vindicated by the judge.

Here you see different examples: a black family with a child, a white family with a child, elderly folks, big families, solo families, small families with a cute dog, groups of neighbors, an Asian family, and even someone with a MAGA hat. The intention is to show different generations and backgrounds. Some backdrops look lower income, like a 70s fireplace, while others look higher income with detailed molding.

Some of these people, like those who might be from Palo Alto, probably don’t need the million dollars; it’s just extra for them. But still, they participate. The point is to show that support for free speech and the Constitution comes from all walks of life.

So, congratulations to Elon. This is a big win for him. Sorry I had to refilm this, but I’ll never stop working for you. Thanks for watching. Feel free to subscribe to the channel.