Philly DA moves to remand Musk back to local court, accuses lawyers of 'procedural stunt'
Elon Musk's $1M giveaways could continue after a judge granted a change of venue request the Tesla founder filed in court
John Paulson, Paulson & Co. co-founder and president, on pledging to work with Elon Musk to slash spending if tapped to be Trump's treasury secretary and the Wall Street Journal speculating a Harris victory would equal a fourth Obama term.
Philadelphia’s top prosecutor filed an emergency motion Thursday to remand his case against Elon Musk from federal court to state court—seeking to halt what his office described as a procedural "stunt" by Musk's attorneys to delay a ruling and allow him to continue his $1 million daily giveaways through Election Day.
The news comes after Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner filed an injunction to halt the $1 million daily giveaways delivered by the Musk-backed America PAC earlier this week, claiming they were an "illegal lottery" aimed at influencing the outcome of an election.
Musk's attorneys filed and were granted an eleventh-hour change of venue request late Wednesday night, punting his case from state to federal court. But that delay could ultimately postpone the hearing until after the election—allowing Musk to continue to doling out $1 million awards via his Trump-supporting America PAC.
In his Thursday filing, Krasner urged the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia to "immediately" remand the lawsuit back to the state, noting that the lawsuit brought against Musk rests solely on state law claims and has no basis for removal.
The push to have a federal court oversee the case "is a stunt to obtain a procedural advantage" and "run out the clock" until the election, he noted.
In the meantime, Krasner said Musk and the PAC have continued their daily giveaways. "Brazenly, they have done so every day since the filing of the Complaint -- including this morning, the day of the scheduled hearing," he said.
Musk has billed the $1 million daily giveaways as an effort to increase voter registration across seven major swing states, and has claimed its daily winners are selected at "random." But Krasner objected, arguing that Musk’s daily giveaways run afoul of state law, which requires all lotteries in Pennsylvania to be "operated and administered by the state."
Elon Musk, former President Trump and Sen. JD Vance in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
His lawsuit does not address any violations of federal law, however, which is in part why his office objected to the change of venue.
Meanwhile, Musk's attorney Matthew Haverstick accused the D.A. of creating a "circus atmosphere" by naming Musk in the lawsuit, and claimed he should not be required to appear.
Krasner, a Democrat, claimed in his lawsuit that both Musk and his Trump-supporting political action committee, America PAC, are "lulling Philadelphia citizens" and others in the commonwealth to "give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win $1 million," through its daily giveaway scheme.
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk endorses former President Trump during a campaign rally in Philadelphia. (Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)
It also accused Musk and his PAC of violating consumer protection laws, citing the "deceptive" and "misleading" statements Musk had made about the nature of the contest.
"That is a lottery." Krasner said in the lawsuit. "And it is indisputably an unlawful lottery."
Elon Musk waves goodbye to the audience as he leaves a town hall event hosted by America PAC in support of former President Trump in Philadelphia. (Ryan Collerd/AFP via / Getty Images)
The legal saga comes as the Tesla founder and CEO has come under increasing scrutiny for the daily giveaways, whose winners he claims have been chosen at "random" – something Krasner's office disputes.
"Though Musk says that a winner’s selection is ‘random,’ that appears false because multiple winners that have been selected are individuals who have shown up at Trump rallies in Pennsylvania," he said in the lawsuit.
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office vowed to contest the venue change on Thursday and move the case back to state court, describing Musk’s ploy to punt the challenge to a federal court as an "irresponsible" "publicity stunt."
"We will proceed to federal court and seek to address the issues there and have them addressed in state court. This is a case that addresses state law issues, and I'll leave it at that," John Summers, an attorney for the D.A.’s office, told reporters.
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Last week, the Justice Department sent a letter to Musk warning that the giveaway might violate federal election laws, which criminalize paying voters to register or participate in elections.
Until the court rules, however, Musk is likely free to continue with his sweepstakes.