Elon Musk’s $1 million voter lottery lawsuit sent back to state court

a pennsylvania A federal judge on Friday sent back to state court a lawsuit against billionaire Elon Musk and his political action committee over $1 million in daily donations to registered voters.

of order By kicking the case out of federal court two days after it was filed there, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner obtained an expedited order blocking Mr. Musk and his suit in Philadelphia County Civil Court. It is possible that preparations will be made. America PAC Further awards to Pennsylvania voters will be prohibited.

A hearing on the request began Thursday morning but was quickly halted after a judge said Musk’s move to move the case to federal court precluded litigation in state court.

Krasner accused Musk and the PAC of running an illegal lottery and trying to influence voters in the presidential election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Musk and his PAC, which supports Trump, are also accused in the lawsuit of violating state consumer protection laws.

In a ruling that sent the case back to civil court, U.S. District Judge Gerald Papert said Musk’s lawyers said the lawsuit should be handled in Philadelphia federal court because it refers to the upcoming presidential election. rejected the claim.

“But jurisdiction in federal matters does not ask the plaintiff’s motive for bringing the case; it asks whether the legal issue arising from the claim arises from federal or state law.” Barack Obama Papert, who was appointed by the former president, wrote:

Papert said the defendants have not identified any “federal law issues” that must be resolved in favor of the DA’s office “to prove any state law claims.”

Krasner’s office said in a statement Friday: “This ruling follows the district attorney’s decision that America PAC and Musk’s 11th-hour effort to have the case removed from state court in Philadelphia violated the law. This is consistent with the allegations.”

John Summers, an attorney representing Mr. Krasner’s office in the case, said he is “waiting for a hearing to be scheduled by the state court” to consider the emergency request to block the $1 million lottery award. said.

CNBC has reached out to lawyers for Musk and America PAC for comment.

On Oct. 19, Musk announced that his PAC would give $1 million a day until Election Day to registered voters in one of seven battleground states (including Pennsylvania) who signed a petition supporting the U.S. Constitution. They announced that they would be given out randomly. The first three winners were from Pennsylvania.

After being sued by Krasner in civil court on Monday, Musk was ordered to appear Thursday morning for an emergency hearing in state court, where the judge asked Krasner to block the Pennsylvania lottery. It was planned to consider the claim.

But on Wednesday night, lawyers for Musk and the PAC filed a notice in federal court to drop the lawsuit.

After Musk failed to appear for a hearing Thursday morning, Civil Court Judge Angelo Folietta said the case could not proceed there, at least for now, because it had been transferred to federal court.

Hours later, Summers asked Papert to move the case back from federal court.

Mr. Musk’s attorney, Matthew Haverstick, filed a motion Friday asking Mr. Folietta to vacate an order requiring Mr. Musk to appear personally when the hearing on Mr. Krasner’s request for an injunction resumes.

“His presence is requested solely for purposes of harassment and oppression,” Haberstick wrote in the motion.

“Plaintiffs are harassing Defendant Musk and attempting to unfairly sideline him in the final days leading up to a competitive presidential election,” the attorneys wrote. “To say this is inappropriate would be a gross understatement. It is a completely unconstitutional statement by a government official to try to chill Musk’s exercise of his First Amendment rights.” It is a violation.”