Elon Musk was a no show to court in Pennsylvania, in spite of being ordered to appear by the court. How did the court punish him for this? By giving him exactly what he asked for and allowing him to continue his potentially illegal scheme of a million dollar lottery.
Pennsylvania state Judge Angelo Foglietta (a Democrat) placed the lawsuit on hold to allow the federal court to consider taking it up, as Musk asked for.
This means Musk can continue his potentially illegal scheme up until the election, after which point it will be irrelevant.
Watch local station NBC10 Philadelphia:
Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner was hoping to stop the “illegal lottery scheme,” because “it amounts to an illegal lottery that violates consumer protection laws by using deceptive language.”
In the lawsuit, Krasner’s office said Musk and America PAC have not published clear rules for the giveaway and has not said how they are protecting voters’ personal information.
He also said people who receive Musk’s money are “not actually chosen at random,” citing two winners who attended two pro-Trump rallies.
Krasner, like most others seeking to hold Trump-Musk affiliated people to the law, had to ask for protection due to threats he’s receiving, noting that his home address had been posted on social media.
Musk’s lawyer Matthew Haverstick said the government subsidies king should not be required to appear in court, claiming that America PAC should be the only defendant.
After the DOJ sent a (LOL) stern letter to Musk warning that his scheme might violate federal law, he claimed he is not paying people to register to vote.
Prosecutor John Summers told reporters his case involves state law issues including state consumer protection laws and thus belongs in Pennsylvania, not a federal court.
It’s notable that Musk has warned that the middle class and poor will be in for some hard times if Trump is elected, but that has to be endured because it will lead to something better (ostensibly for billionaires, because this is the trickle down argument with a Thatcher bent).
Billionaires and people pretending to be billionaires by conning people (Trump, adjudicated fraudster) aren’t planning on helping the middle class and poor if they win. Elon Musk isn’t spending an estimated $140 million so that he can lose his status as the richest man on earth.
Of course Elon Musk doesn’t think the law applies to him, and of course he seeks to move this case to federal law where he can judge shop and Trump could make it go away if he wins. The law is for poor and middle class people; it’s not for billionaires.
This, in and of itself, is the entire argument against billionaires being a thing. We can’t have a functioning democracy if oligarchs can essentially buy the law with delays and judge shopping while they milk the middle class US taxpayer for subsidies.
