Elon Musk's lawyers flip the script to defend $1 million voting sweepstakes in court battle
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Elon Musk is facing a lawsuit for his recent $1 million voter sweepstakes funded by his Donald Trump super PAC, but his lawyers are arguing it's not at all what it seems.
Musk's attorney Chris Gober appeared in court on Monday and argued that Musk's $1 million a day giveaway is not an "illegal lottery" as alleged in the lawsuit, but a job opportunity, according to CNBC.
"We ask people to sign the petition, and refer others to sign the petition," Gober explained. "We then take that pool of individuals across the country, and we determine which one of those individuals would serve as an effective spokesperson, and we enter into a contractual obligation with them."
Musk, who has been funneling millions into his America PAC in support of Trump's re-election campaign, launched the giveaway last month, awarding money to "randomly" selected swing state voters that signed a petition.
Gober said that while Musk used the word "randomly" to describe how winners are chosen, he was using it interchangeably with "by chance," also noting that "there is no prize to be won." Instead, it is a salary signers "earn."
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Philadelphia's district attorney Larry Krasner and his team, who filed the suit last week, described Gober's defense of the word "randomly" as a "complete admission of liability."
Krasner further argued that the giveaway was "political marketing masquerading as a lottery," and violates state consumer protection and election laws.
"They know what they’re doing is illegal, and they are doing everything under the sun to clean it up," Krasner said during testimony.
While the lawsuit only affects voters in Pennsylvania, Krasner expressed interest in bringing forth suits in the other states Musk gave money out in, which includes Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.
Cover photo: ANGELA WEISS / AFP