Judge Weighs In On PA Lawsuit Against Elon Musk Over $1M Giveaways

PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge rejected Elon Musk and his super PAC's bid to move a lawsuit aimed at stopping $1 million giveaways to certain voters to federal court, authorities said Friday.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office said a federal judge rejected Musk and the America PAC's argument and sent the case back to state court for a hearing.

Musk and the PAC sought to move the suit filed by the DA's office to federal court, arguing the case centered on federal voting regulations rather than state regulations.

Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner says the gimmick, which awards $1 million a day to registered voters who singed a pledge to uphold the First and Second Amendments, an illegal lottery.

The federal judge's ruling is consistent with the argument of the District Attorney that America PAC's and Mr. Musk's eleventh hour effort to take the case away from state court in Philadelphia was contrary to law, the DA's office said Friday.

"DA Krasner filed this state law case in state court, which has jurisdiction to enter an injunction to stop the defendants' lottery and the defendants' unfair and deceptive practices," John Summers, Esq., lead counsel for the Commonwealth in this matter said. "Late the night before the hearing was ordered to proceed in state court, defendants filed papers to remove the case to federal court. Hours later, we filed an emergency motion to have the case remanded back to state court so that the state court could orderly proceed with a hearing."

Authorities are now waiting for the state court to schedule a hearing.

Payments are specifically targeting citizens in Pennsylvania, but are also being sent to voters in Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.

The payouts are being awarded through Election Day.

"This civil action neither precludes nor requires potential future action under Pennsylvania criminal law," the DA's statement reads. "The Philadelphia DA will litigate the factual allegations and legal arguments that underlie today’s filing on the record and in court."

The controversial payouts appear to fall in a legal gray area, with analysts unable to reach a consensus on the nature of Musk's payouts within the United States election code.

Hugo Lowell, with the popular Election Law Blog, said it is "clearly illegal," citing election code that states "Whoever...pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both…"

Because nothing like this has ever been done in the history of American elections, other scholars say it's less clear.

"I think it straddles the line," John Fortier, an election expert with the American Enterprise Institute, told NBC News.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has called for law enforcement to investigate the payouts.

Musk has also pledged $47 to supporters for each citizen they register to vote.