SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk speaks at a town hall with Republican candidate U.S. Senate Dave McCormick at the Roxain Theater on October 20, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Michael Swensen | Getty Images
A lawsuit by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office seeking to block Elon Musk and his political action committee from continuing to award $1 million prizes to swing state voters will be heard — for now at least — in federal court in Pennsylvania, attorneys said Thursday.
But John Summers, a lawyer for Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner told reporters that he will quickly seek to have the lawsuit transferred back to the state-level court where Krasner filed the lawsuit Monday.
“We will proceed to federal court and pursue [the case] there and seek to remand to state court,” Summers said.
Summers spoke after a brief hearing in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, which originally was scheduled to deal with an emergency request by Krasner to stop Musk and his America PAC from continuing the $1 million awards.
But attorneys for Musk and the PAC late Wednesday filed a notice of removal in Pennsylvania federal court hours after a judge ordered the Tesla CEO to personally appear for the emergency hearing.
Musk did not show up for the hearing, but his lawyers attended.
The notice filed in federal court by lawyers for Musk and his America PAC argued that because that PAC is registered as a federal entity, it is not subject to state law.
“While the Complaint purports to raise only state-law claims relating to public nuisance and consumer protection, DA Krasner’s claims, as evident on the face of the Complaint, turn principally on the allegation that Defendants are somehow unlawfully interfering with a federal election,” the filing says.
It is not clear how quickly a federal judge will rule on either Krasner’s request to move the case back to state court, or to halt the lottery.
Krasner’s lawsuit, which claims Musk’s $1 million giveaway is an illegal, unregulated lottery, was filed in Court of Common Pleas on Monday.
A hearing on Krasner’s request for an emergency injunction to block the lottery from continuing was originally scheduled for Friday.
On Wednesday, lawyers for Krasner in a court filing raised security concerns due to “antisemitic attacks on” the district attorney from Musk’s social media followers, one of whom posted the prosecutor’s home address online. The attorneys also asked the judge in the case to order Musk and a representative for America PAC to appear in person for Friday’s hearing.
Later Wednesday, the judge reset the hearing to Thursday morning, and ordered Musk and someone for the PAC to be in attendance.
Musk and his America PAC have offered the supposedly random cash prizes to people in one of seven swing states who sign a petition “in support of the Constitution.” The DA’s suit alleges Musk is trying to influence voters in the election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Musk is heavily backing Trump in the race.
“America PAC and Musk are lulling Philadelphia citizens – and others in the Commonwealth (and other swing states in the upcoming election) – to give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win $1 million,” Krasner’s lawsuit says. “That is a lottery.”
The U.S. Department of Justice previously warned America PAC the giveaway might violate federal election law, but had not filed a court action to block it.
America PAC has said it has given away a total of $12 million in the lottery.
Four of the $1 million awards went to people in Pennsylvania, the most of any of the swing states eligible for the prize.
– Additional reporting by NBC News’ Lisa Rubin
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