Elon Musk has been ordered to attend a Halloween hearing on the legality of his election petition lottery, but a last-minute removal request may have given the billionaire a reprieve to spend the day enjoying quality holiday time with his family or more relentless campaigning to help elect Donald Trump.
Musk and his America PAC, you may recall, were giving out $1 million a day to random folks in swing states, provided they signed his voter information gathering scheme petition in support of the Constitution and its first and second amendments. That didn't sit well with the governor of Pennsylvania - where the first several prizes were given out - who said the matter looked illegal, and merited further investigation.
It didn't take long for Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner to decide the Governor's suggestion was worth taking action on, so he sued Musk and his PAC on Monday in a bid to freeze the cash giveaway on the grounds it's an illegal lottery.
"Running an illegal lottery and violating consumer protections is ample basis for an injunction and concluding that America PAC and Musk must be stopped, immediately, before the upcoming presidential election on November 5," Krasner, a Democrat, argued in his complaint, "because America PAC and Musk hatched their illegal lottery scheme to influence voters in that election."
Philadelphia County judge Angelo Foglietta appeared to concur with the critical nature of the case, and agreed to set a hearing for today at 1000 local time, which Musk was ordered to attend, to show cause why an immediate injunction shouldn't be granted.
Musk apparently wasn't keen to fly home and drag his perpetual victim costume out of the closet for a Halloween court date, so his lawyers instead filed a removal motion [PDF] in Pennsylvania federal court.
In the lengthy document, Musk's lawyers argue that Krasner's application of state law is inappropriate, given that the claims of election interference pertain to a federal election and not a state one. Musk's lawyers further argue that the election-related activities Krasner filed suit over, namely "independent expenditures to influence campaigns for federal office and the core political speech via petition gathering," are exclusively a matter for federal court.
Removal motions put actions in lower courts on hold immediately, meaning the hearing is likely on hold pending a hearing on the removal motion. As of writing, today's hearing in Philadelphia is still on the docket for the case (no. 241003509 in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas).
The Register was told by the court's office of communications that the hearing would likely still be held as scheduled, during which time Musk's lawyers will probably bring their removal request to the judge, and the hearing is likely to be adjourned.
Whether Musk will be in attendance is unknown, and his lawyers have not responded to questions. ®
Source: The register