Elon Musk has been ordered by a federal judge to face a lawsuit brought by voters who accuse the world’s richest man of defrauding them into signing a petition to support the US Constitution in exchange for the chance to win his $1 million-a-day giveaway.
US District Judge Robert Pitman in Austin, Texas, said Jacqueline McAferty had plausibly alleged in her proposed class action that Musk and his political action committee, America PAC, had wrongly induced her to provide personal identifying information as part of the giveaway during the closing stages of the 2024 election campaign.
Lawyers for Musk and America PAC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Musk founded America PAC to support Republican Donald Trump’s successful 2024 presidential run.
McAferty, who lives in Arizona, said Musk and America PAC had induced voters in seven battleground states to sign the petition by promising that recipients of the $1 million would be chosen randomly, as in a lottery, even though voters had no real chance of collecting.
She said those who signed were also required to provide their names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers.
In seeking to have the case dismissed, Musk pointed to several “red flags” which he said proved he had not run an illegal lottery. He argued that the supposed recipients of the $1 million were described as having been “selected to earn” the money and were expected to become America PAC spokespeople, which he said defeated the idea that the payment was a “prize”.
But Judge Pitman cited other statements which suggested the defendants were “awarding” the $1 million and that the money could be “won”. He wrote: “It is plausible that plaintiff justifiably relied on those statements to believe that defendants were objectively offering her the chance to enter a random lottery—even if that is not what they subjectively intended to do.”
Musk also rejected the suggestion that petition signers had suffered harm by providing their contact details. Judge Pitman said an expert in political data brokerage could testify as to the value of such information for voters in battleground states.
The lawsuit was filed on Election Day, 5 November 2024. A day earlier, a Philadelphia judge had refused to halt Musk’s giveaway, ruling that the city’s top prosecutor had failed to demonstrate it was an illegal lottery.
Judge Pitman, who was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama in 2014, said the case would proceed.
Musk, who lives in Texas, also faces scrutiny through his electric car company Tesla, which is headquartered in Austin.
The case is McAferty v Musk et al, US District Court, Western District of Texas, No. 24-01346.
Boluwatife Enome
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