Ex-DOJ official explains why Musk 'should have consulted with a lawyer' before swing state voting ploy
In Pennsylvania and other swing states, Tesla/X CEO Elon Musk has come up with a voting ploy that includes promising to give away a $1 million "prize" to those who sign a political action committee (PAC) petition pledging support for the First and Second Amendments. Musk, who is supporting Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, has already given $1 million checks to two voters in the Keystone State.
The legality or illegality of Musk's scheme is being debated. And David Becker, a former U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) official, is saying it may be illegal.
During a Monday, October 21 appearance on CNN, Becker told host Brianna Keilar, "This is exchanging something of value — the chance to win $1, which is of great value — in exchange for someone being a registered voter. That is a precondition of signing up for this petition. You have to be registered."
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Becker continued, "It's being done just before the voter registration deadline in Pennsylvania, which happens later tonight at midnight. It's is being offered only in the seven swing states. It looks like this is being done specifically to offer something of value, for people to be registered in particular states that Mr. Musk thinks are politically valuable. And under federal law…. you cannot offer or accept payment meant for registration or voting."
Becker went on to say that Musk "should have consulted with a lawyer" before launching his ploy.
Becker told Keillar, "This is being done in an apparent effort to influence the election, which is something that prosecutors would look at if they chose to pursue this investigation further…. I expect the DOJ is talking about this right now. It happened over the weekend; this is Monday. I would expect to see a cease-and-desist letter; that's normally what happens here. I don't think anyone is suggesting that Mr. Musk should be arrested."
The former DOJ official continued, "There are criminal penalties associated with voters violating this law. $10,000 fine — probably not a big deal to Elon Musk. But five years in jail for violating this as well, up to five years in jail. No one's suggesting he should be arrested or thrown into jail. But if he got a cease-and-desist letter from the DOJ, maybe he would review that and consider whether or not he should continue with these efforts. Normally, this stops it, because most people don't want to engage in vote-buying — don't want to break federal law."
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