Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump listens as Elon Musk speaks during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File).
The U.S. Department of Justice is apparently aware of calls to investigate Elon Musk’s pro-Donald Trump America PAC for its cash offer to swing state residents who become eligible for a daily $1 million lottery until the 2024 election if they sign a petition in support of the First and Second Amendments and are registered to vote, a strategy that some legal experts have said is “clearly” or “pretty clearly” or “likely” in violation of federal law.
Scott MacFarlane of CBS News reported Tuesday that the DOJ is aware of a letter from former federal prosecutors and former Republican-appointed government officials asking for a “review” of “payments that are being made by the Elon Musk-founded America PAC to voters in Pennsylvania and other states that experts say raise serious questions under applicable law.”
Justice Dept confirms receipt of the letter… but declines to comment further
The former GOP-appointed officials want a DOJ review of Musk’s effort
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) October 22, 2024
MacFarlane added that the DOJ did not say whether it would launch a probe, just that it received the letter calling for one.
The letter
The Washington Post reported Monday that the former federal prosecutors and ex-GOP-appointed officials who want a DOJ review of Musk’s effort include Donald Ayer, the former U.S. deputy attorney general under then President George H.W. Bush, Watergate era prosecutor Philip Lacovara, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, former Trump administration national security official Olivia Troye, and former FEC Chairman Trevor Potter.
“We urge you to investigate whether America PAC’s payments are prohibited payments for voter registration,” the letter reportedly said, before stating that Musk’s initiative looks like illegal vote-buying even it is ostensibly geared towards petition signatures. “We recognize that they are framed as payments for signing a petition, or for referring voters who sign. But many of the payments are restricted to registered voters, so anyone who wishes to get paid must first register.”
The issue
Politico has reported that first $1 million lottery winners in Pennsylvania had already voted early by mail, but legal experts have contemplated the scenario of unregistered voters deciding to register in order to be paid.
Election law expert and UCLA law professor Rick Hasen, for one, wrote on his Election Law Blog that paying people to register to vote is “clearly illegal” under 52 U.S.C. 10307(c), which criminalizes “false information in registering or voting” and punishes the offense by up to five years in prison.
“Whoever knowingly or willfully […] pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both,” the relevant part of the law says.
Hasen added that DOJ Election Crimes Manual says voters cannot be induced or bribed to vote with “lottery chances.”
In extended comments on MSNBC, Hasen said he thinks there’s a “really strong possibility that it’s illegal.”
“There’s no problem with having a lottery, at least from the point of view from election law, to pay people to sign a petition,” Hasen said. “The problem is, to sign the petition […] you have to be a registered voter in a swing state. And so this is essentially a lottery to either induce people or reward people for registering to vote.”
“Seems pretty open and shut to me,” he added. “The fact that you’re signing the petition is pretty irrelevant.”
That is reportedly not the view of America PAC.
CBS News, citing a “source familiar,” reported the PAC is “confident in the legality of this initiative” and that the “predictable media meltdown is only helping AmericaPAC’s efforts to support President Trump.”
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