Judge pauses Elon Musk election sweepstake case

A Philadelphia judge has put on hold a lawsuit challenging Elon Musk’s multi-mullion-dollar sweepstakes in the US election’s battleground states.
In a brief hearing Thursday morning, Judge Angelo Foglietta said he would pause the case while a federal court considers hearing it.
The ruling means Musk, one of presidential candidate Donald Trump’s most influential supporters, can continue awarding the $1m-per-day giveaway, as the matter is unlikely to be resolved before the November 5 election.
Musk did not attend the Thursday hearing despite the judge’s orders for him to be there.
The judge reserved any decision on whether to sanction Musk until it’s clear whether the case will play out in federal or state court.
A pro-Trump political action committee set up by Musk — America PAC — is awarding $1m every day in seven of the US swing states likely to sway the election until November 5.
To enter the sweepstakes, people must be registered voters and sign a petition supporting the Constitution.
Musk’s critics claim the payments are a potentially illegal effort to drive up support and boost turnout for Trump.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, filed a state lawsuit alleging the program amounts to an “unlawful lottery” and should be shut down.
“America PAC and Musk are lulling Philadelphia citizens – and others in the Commonwealth [and other swing states in the upcoming election] – to give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win $1 million,” said the lawsuit.
Krasner’s filing also alleges Musk is breaking consumer protection laws by “deploying deceptive, vague or misleading statements” about its rules.
“Running an illegal lottery and violating consumer protections is ample basis for an injunction and concluding that America PAC and Musk must be stopped, immediately, before the upcoming Presidential Election on November 5,” the lawsuit said.
Krasner’s office claimed Musk and America PAC have not published clear rules for the giveaway nor said how they are protecting voters’ personal information.
It also said people who receive Musk’s money are “not actually chosen at random,” citing two winners who happened to live near, and attended, two pro-Trump rallies.
However, Musk’s legal team argued that the focus of Krasner’s claim was alleged federal election interference, which belongs in federal not state court.
“The Complaint, in truth, has little to do with state-law claims of nuisance and consumer protection,” said a counter filing by Musk’s team, reviewed by Al Jazeera. “Rather, although disguised as state law claims, the Complaint’s focus is to prevent Defendants’ purported ‘interference’ with the forthcoming Federal Presidential Election by any means.”
Musk’s legal push to move the case to the federal level enables him to at least drag out the proceedings right before the election.
“This essentially restarts the process, and puts this in front of a new court, with a new judge, to take a fresh look at it. So it has the benefit – for Musk – of slowing things down,” election law expert Derek Muller told CNN.
Musk, ranked by Forbes as the world’s richest person, has so far given nearly $120 million to America PAC, according to federal disclosures, making the group a crucial part of Trump’s bid to regain the White House.
Trump has said that if elected, he would appoint Musk to head a government efficiency commission.