The Democratic attorney general of Wisconsin has asked the liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court to stop billionaire Elon Musk from distributing $1 million checks before Tuesday’s election.
AG Josh Kaul’s emergency request to stop Musk from continuing was denied by all seven members on Sunday, including three conservatives and four liberals.
Musk was scheduled to hold an America PAC town hall in Green Bay on Sunday night when the filing was made. Two voters who signed a petition against “activist judges” were given $1 million checks by Musk there.
Holding a massive check, Musk stated, “The reason for the checks is that, it’s really just to get attention.” “We need to get attention,” the statement goes, “and when I do this, the legacy media kind of loses their mind.”
Musk was there to back Republican candidate and former state attorney general Brad Schimel, who was elected by Wisconsin voters to serve 10-year terms as justices of the Supreme Court.
Kaul requested that the state high court make a ruling “as soon as possible but no later than the planned event on Sunday evening” in his filing. Although the two recipients of Musk’s upcoming checks have already cast their ballots in the election, the AG claimed that Musk’s giveaway is illegal under state election laws.
According to Fox News, the attorney general’s filing said that the offer of $1 million to two Wisconsin electors, contingent on their casting ballots in the next election, violates Wisconsin Statute § 12.11, which forbids giving “anything of value” in return for “voting[ing] or refrain[ing] from voting.”
It is illegal in Wisconsin to offer anything of value in order to persuade someone to cast a ballot. But that’s exactly what Elon Musk did,” Kaul said.
The payments are “intended to generate a grassroots movement in opposition to activist judges, not to expressly advocate for or against any candidate,” Musk’s lawyers argued in response.
Schimel stated that he has no control over “any of the spending from any outside group, whether it’s Elon Musk or anyone else” on “Fox News Sunday.”
The candidate went on to say, “That’s exactly what I’ve committed to anybody, whether it’s President Trump, Elon Musk, or any donors and supporters or voters in Wisconsin.” “That’s what I promise.”
“Entrance is limited to those who have signed the petition in opposition to activist judges,” Musk wrote in a statement on X.
Musk went on to say, “I will also give two people a million dollar check to serve as petition ambassadors.”
With the GOP majority in the U.S. House literally on the line, Musk and voter registration activist Scott Presler have been putting in extra effort to encourage Republicans to vote.
America PAC, which was first established to aid President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, is investing $1 million to support the fieldwork and canvassing of conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel.
