Elon Musk No-Shows Critical Court Hearing Over $1 Million Voter Giveaway

Tech billionaire Elon Musk was a no-show in a Philadelphia courtroom Thursday morning, despite a judge having ordered his appearance to face proceedings in a civil lawsuit brought against him by District Attorney Larry Krasner for a daily $1 million giveaway to registered voters.

At the courthouse Thursday, Reuters reported  that Musk did not appear at 10 a.m. for the hearing as expected, a move that could result in the SpaceX and Tesla owner being held in contempt of court and possibly fined. According to Pennsylvania law , punishment for contempt of court can be a fine of not more than $100 or imprisonment of no more than 30 days, or both.

Early this week, Judge Angelo Foglietta of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas ordered Musk to appear in court on Friday, as Krasner seeks to stop the tech mogul who has endorsed Republican Donald Trump for president from handing out $1 million to registered voters in the swing state. On Wednesday, Krasner asked Foglietta to move the hearing to a more secure location , citing a deluge of threats he has received as a result of social media posts Musk has amplified on his website X. The judge agreed to move the hearing to City Hall, where there is a stronger police presence, and moved the hearing to Thursday morning as well.

Musk, meanwhile, filed a notice overnight Wednesday seeking to move the state case to federal court. He argues that Krasners lawsuit raises constitutional questions about free speech, and that the proper venue is the United States Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 

Krasners emergency request to stop what he alleges is an illegal lottery scheme requires judicial intervention into the progress of an ongoing federal election, attorneys for Musk and Musks America PAC wrote Wednesday. 

This, however, a state court cannot do, as the issue of whether a federal
political action committee like America PAC which is focused on making
independent expenditures to influence campaigns for federal office, not state or local offices is exclusively governed by federal law and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, the attorneys argue. 

The Department of Justice sent Musk a letter earlier this month warning him that the giveaway program could run afoul of laws that forbid giving financial incentives to registered voters. 

Attorneys for Musk and America PAC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

This morning, DA Krasner was here to testify. Elon Musk didnt show, John Summers, an attorney for Krasner, told reporters gathered at the courthouse.

We are going to handle this case and continue to handle this case. On Mischief Night, Elon Musk and his PAC ... filed legal papers to have the case removed from this court to federal court, and we will proceed to federal court, Summers added, referring to the night preceding Halloween. We will address the issues there and seek to have the matter remanded back to the state court. After all, this is a case that involves state law issues, and Ill leave it at that.

The state filed its motion to send the case back down to a lower court on Thursday afternoon. 

According to attorneys for the state, Musks request is baseless and misinterprets existing laws around federal versus state claims. The district attorney says the giveaway is a public nuisance under state laws and that Musk is being brazen about his offenses, even issuing $1 million to someone on the same day he was to appear in court. 

Here, there is no disputed or substantial federal-law issue. The Complaint concerns only Pennsylvania public nuisance and lottery law, and Pennsylvania [Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection] law. Defendants attempt to invent a federal law issue by contending political expenditure and free speech concerns are in play. That is wrong. Courts have been clear that gambling activities are not considered speech, the motion states.