Reuters reports:

Elon Musk’s pro-Trump group does not choose the winners of its $1 million-a-day giveaway to registered voters at random, but instead picks people who would be good spokespeople for its agenda, a lawyer for the billionaire said on Monday.

Musk lawyer Chris Gober was trying to persuade a Pennsylvania judge that the giveaway was not an “illegal lottery,” as Philadelphia district attorney Lawrence Krasner alleged in a lawsuit seeking to block the contest ahead of Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election.

“There is no prize to be won, instead recipients must fulfill contractual obligations to serve as a spokesperson for the PAC,” Gober said in the hearing before Judge Angelo Foglietta, referring to Musk’s political action committee, known as America PAC.

The hearing in the battleground state comes just one day before Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump will square off in the tightly contested race. Musk and his political action committee are backing Trump.

Tesla CEO Musk’s offer is limited to registered voters in the seven states expected to decide the election – Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

America PAC says its two remaining winners will be from Arizona and Michigan, meaning that Musk would likely be able to continue the giveaway even if Foglietta blocks the lottery.

“The only people protected by Pennsylvania law are in Pennsylvania,” said Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia Law School.
But in courtroom testimony, Krasner said he would seek financial penalties against Musk and America PAC. He said he would not seek to take money back from the 16 voters who have so far won the contest.

“I’ll be seeking a lot more money than that for what Elon Musk and America PAC have done,” Krasner said under cross-examination. [Continue reading…]