- Three swing state voters are suing Elon Musk, alleging the tech billionaire didn’t pay them cash promised to them in return for signing a petition from his America PAC. The October earlier than the 2024 election, Musk provided voters in seven states $47, and later $100, for signing a petition and referring others to signal. America PAC raised $200 million for Trump.
Elon Musk’s America PAC didn’t pay swing state voters after promising them cash in change for signing a petition or referring others to signal forward of final yr’s election, a brand new proposed nationwide class motion swimsuit alleges.
The October earlier than the election, America PAC started providing $47, then later $100, to voters in seven swing states who agreed to signal a petition pledging “support for the First and Second Amendments,” in keeping with a social media submit concerning the supply. Individuals who referred different registered voters to signal the petition have been additionally provided cash for every further signee they referred.
The three plaintiffs allege America PAC failed to meet its contract obligations by not paying petition-signers in full, in keeping with courtroom filings obtained by Fortune by means of Courtroom Watch. The plaintiffs count on greater than “100 class members” to affix the lawsuit, owed collectively greater than $5 million, the submitting mentioned.
“This case is about a broken promise: Elon Musk promised supporters that they would be paid for signing a petition and referring others to do the same,” Shannon Liss-Riordan, of Lichten & Liss-Riordan, the regulation agency representing the plaintiffs, informed Fortune in an electronic mail. “Our clients relied on that promise because they believed in Elon, but unfortunately, that promise was not kept. It appears the promise was broken for many others as well.”
The lawsuit was filed final week in a federal courtroom within the japanese district of Pennsylvania, a swing state that noticed $1.2 billion in marketing campaign advertisements for the 2024 election. America PAC raised greater than $200 million since its Might 2024 founding—a lot of it donated by its founder Musk—for Donald Trump’s presidential marketing campaign.
A Pennsylvania man who canvassed for the PAC filed the same lawsuit in April, alleging he was owed $20,000 in collected signatures. The plaintiff, a John Doe, claimed America PAC didn’t ship on the cost promised by Nov. 30.
America PAC didn’t reply to Fortune’s request for remark, however spokesperson Andrew Romeo denied wrongdoing in a assertion to CNN concerning the April lawsuit.
“America PAC is committed to paying for every legitimate petition signature, which is evidenced by the fact that we have paid tens of millions of dollars to canvassers for their hard work in support of our mission,” Romeo mentioned.
Tesla didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark from Musk.
America PAC’s authorized grey space
Along with doling out $100 to petition signers, Musk additionally promised to provide away $1 million a day to signees within the month main as much as the election. America PAC mentioned in October it gave a $1 million examine to Shannon Tomei from McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, its third such examine on the time.
It adopted the same technique in Wisconsin’s particular election in March, giving two voters $1 million checks and proclaiming them spokespeople for the political group.
Musk and the PAC donated $20 million to assist conservative state Supreme Courtroom candidate Brad Schimel within the election, although Schimel misplaced to liberal opponent Susan Crawford within the race that broke spending data.
The tech billionaire’s proclivity for money items forward of elections raised considerations amongst politicians and authorized specialists, who believed Musk’s actions crossed a authorized boundary.
“I think there are real questions with how he is spending money in this race, how the dark money is flowing, not just into Pennsylvania, but apparently now into the pockets of Pennsylvanians. That is deeply concerning,” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro informed NBC’s Meet the Press in October.
Rick Hasen, a UCLA Legislation College political science professor, argued Musk’s petition-signing incentive veered into unlawful vote shopping for, as a result of the one people eligible for money in change for signing the petition and referring others to signal have been registered voters.
Courts haven’t agreed Musk’s actions are unlawful. Simply days previous to the Wisconsin particular election, an appellate courtroom denied Wisconsin’s Democratic legal professional common’s request to cease Musk from giving freely the $1 million checks to the 2 voters.
Musk’s attorneys argued in courtroom filings that the funds have been “intended to generate a grassroots movement in opposition to activist judges, not to expressly advocate for or against any candidate.”
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
