According to a former impeachment attorney for Donald Trump, Elon Musk’s multimillion-dollar effort to incentivize people to vote may be considered illegal.
Bruce Castor, a former Trump impeachment attorney and Acting Attorney General of Pennsylvania, appeared on Monday’s episode of Dan Abrams Live. During the show, he discussed the legal issues associated with Elon Musk’s giveaways.
According to Castor, he believes that the issue at hand is not simply a matter of being “black and white.” However, he does express his concern and hopes that Mr. Musk will reconsider engaging in these types of actions. Castor explains that such behavior does not reflect positively and carries a negative perception.
Abrams inquired, “Is the legal issue here about the act of paying or offering money? Or is it about the potential lottery problem you have described?”
Castor replied:
It’s actually a combination of both. In fact, there’s a third aspect to it as well. He is also paying individuals to motivate them to register. Essentially, he is offering an incentive for people to sign up to vote, with the chance of winning a prize. This can be seen as a form of indirect payment, as it provides individuals with a potential reward for registering. Therefore, he is boosting voter registration by providing a financial incentive.
So, that’s a problem in both state and federal law. Then there’s the issue of a lottery. I mean, Pennsylvania, like every other state that runs lotteries, wants a monopoly, and anything that has to do with chance – even if what you’re you’re doing is signing a petition to get the chance – the state is against.
And there’s the third thing, is whether anything that Mr. Musk is doing here is done with the intent to influence an election. In that event, it needs to be reported as such. And there are very strict reporting timetables for such things this close to the election. I think there are rules that require reporting on a daily or weekly basis.