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submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/politics@lemmy.world

Summary

Elon Musk’s pro-Trump group, America PAC, selects $1 million giveaway winners based on their potential as spokespeople rather than randomly.

The Philadelphia district attorney Lawrence Krasner alleges this violates state consumer protection laws. "This was all political marketing masquerading as a lottery, albeit an illegal lottery," Krasner said.

The U.S. Department of Justice has warned America PAC the giveaway could violate federal law, according to media reports, but federal prosecutors have not taken any public action.

The outcome of the lawsuit could impact the group’s ability to continue the contest, which has already awarded $16 million to registered voters in battleground states.

all 31 comments
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[-] magic_lobster_party@fedia.io 118 points 2 weeks ago

I don’t think that makes things any better.

[-] Limonene@lemmy.world 108 points 2 weeks ago

Well, it's no longer an illegal lottery. So that's good.

It's just a rigged lottery. Slightly different thing. Also illegal, but for slightly different reasons. More unethical and fraudulent than before.

So it makes things better, and then makes things way worse.

[-] Tyfud@lemmy.world 29 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah, I've got absolutely no clue why they thought this would be a better defense

[-] zbyte64@awful.systems 9 points 2 weeks ago

Somehow it worked, I don't understand how though

[-] Tyfud@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago

Corrupt judges and a feckless DOJ, unfortunately

[-] LEDZeppelin@lemmy.world 68 points 2 weeks ago

So….if they’re not random, does that violate the definition of lottery in PA state?

[-] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 67 points 2 weeks ago

It's whatever it needs to be at the time to keep Musk out of trouble.

[-] thefartographer@lemm.ee 16 points 2 weeks ago

It's a shovel! And it keeps on digging!

[-] Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org 9 points 2 weeks ago

It's some sort of quantum lottery ... or not

[-] thefartographer@lemm.ee 2 points 2 weeks ago

"Hey, you said I'd get a million dollars and this is only sixty-two bucks!"

”You changed the amount by counting it.”

[-] vegeta@lemmy.world 44 points 2 weeks ago

Grifting the rubes….grifting the rubes

[-] just_another_person@lemmy.world 26 points 2 weeks ago

Lolz. Sounds like somebody found a way to not get arrested.

[-] lemmyng@lemmy.ca 57 points 2 weeks ago

Except that they stated multiple times, publicly, that the winners are picked randomly. So if they are not running a lottery then they have defrauded the participants.

[-] just_another_person@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

They only did a few, and then found a way out. If you "reveal" some other reasoning behind the curtain, that is what is considered admissible, legally in the US.

Example:

DA: "You are accused of running a lottery to get people to vote for a specific candidate, which is illegal. Is that what happened?"

Musk: "Nope, we lied about it being random, and the winners were specifically chosen, which is not a violation of the law"

Proof: https://apnews.com/article/musk-million-sweepstakes-lottery-pennsylvania-krasner-4f683c48eb7dcc57f183e54ef16e7320

[-] neatchee@lemmy.world 36 points 2 weeks ago

Except it is a violation of the law, just a different law. They defrauded the public by collecting something of material value (registrant information) under false pretenses. It's textbook fraud

[-] just_another_person@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

I'm not his lawyer, but it certainly sounds like he didn't consult with them before doing the thing, and this obviously shifty change in stance is because it's his lawyers who found a way out of trouble for their client. I'm sure they have you beat on this.

[-] mosiacmango@lemm.ee 18 points 2 weeks ago

Lawyers making up insane defenses doesn't mean they have the law on their side. They hail mary all the time.

[-] neatchee@lemmy.world 9 points 2 weeks ago

You assume their goal is to get him off entirely and not to simply shift the crime to a lesser offense

[-] just_another_person@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

It's a legal team whose job it is to lessen the damage.

A "donation" or "gift" to a specific person isn't a crime.

Running a fucking giveaway or lottery is though.

Proof: https://apnews.com/article/musk-million-sweepstakes-lottery-pennsylvania-krasner-4f683c48eb7dcc57f183e54ef16e7320

[-] neatchee@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

The gift isn't the crime.

Telling people you're holding a sweepstakes, collecting their information based on that statement, and then not holding the sweepstakes and instead giving the supposed prize to someone of your choice is the crime

It's called fraud

[-] just_another_person@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

The outcome is not though. https://www.olshanlaw.com/sweepstakes-law-basics#:~:text=The%20official%20rules%20must%20typically,of%20entries%20by%20a%20single

Many lawsuits from many different states because of the Monopoly fiasco multiple times over proves this. As long as you don't game the outcome while still claiming it is such, it's neither a giveaway, nor a sweepstakes. That's the loophole. All Musk has to do is proclaim he is a liar, which he will totally do when Trump loses. Hell, he could just call it staged and probably win in court.

Edit for proof: https://apnews.com/article/musk-million-sweepstakes-lottery-pennsylvania-krasner-4f683c48eb7dcc57f183e54ef16e7320

[-] Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 26 points 2 weeks ago

It's interesting how this is only being reported now - the day before election day. When the early-voters already cast their ballots, and when the campaign no longer has to worry about keeping up the charade.

How many people signed onto this thing only because they thought they could be the lucky winner? It's not like they can take it back now. Musk got exactly what he wanted - tons of signatures of support from registered voters in swing states, that can now be trotted out as some kind of "proof" for his preferred candidate when he loses.

On the one hand, some people do not know about, or even would believe, this news. Like die-hard MAGAts and/or people who don't pay attention to current events.

But for the people who signed the petition for the hell of it, hear about this now, and who are capable of accepting bad news? Oh, they will be pissed. I wouldn't put it past such a person to respond, "Well, fuck you, too" by not voting tomorrow, or by specifically voting for Harris.

I can't expect the number of such people to be very high, but I do think that spite is a powerful force. Those who were on the fence before now have a personal reason to distrust Trump. And right in time to express it at the voting booth!

[-] todd_bonzalez@lemm.ee 20 points 2 weeks ago

So he was buying votes specifically for Conservatives. That's what I'm hearing.

Like I said elsewhere fhis is exactly what they were claiming MR. Beast was doing, yet this guy admits it and it's fine?

[-] tiefling@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 points 2 weeks ago
[-] ATDA@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

So the end game is to award nobodies, he thinks are going to be good potential spokespeople, to get out the message?

Hi I'm some random loser that was gifted a million dollars, listen to me AstroTurf!

Stellar

[-] NotMyOldRedditName@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Imagine submitting your name to be in a lottery, that isn't a lottery and actually results in a background check on you to see if you're who they're looking for.

Insane.

[-] KinglyWeevil@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 2 weeks ago

Why not just....hire spokespeople for a PAC at $500k/yr based on a public contest/audition about making right wing content? Same outcome, not at all illegal.

[-] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 weeks ago

Elon Musk is known to lie.

[-] Dkarma@lemmy.world -1 points 2 weeks ago

My wife knows a winner. They're def random lol.

Someone gonna go to jail over this.

this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2024
353 points (99.2% liked)

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