Posted on 11/04/2024 3:14:40 PM PST by Coronal
A lawyer for Elon Musk said in a Philadelphia courtroom Monday that the winners of Musk’s $1 million daily prize giveaway in election swing states are not chosen at random, contradicting what Musk said when he announced the contest last month.
Legal experts told NBC News that the disclosure could have legal fallout for Musk across multiple jurisdictions under laws designed to protect consumers from deceptive practices.
“This is absolutely, unambiguously illegal,” Christopher Peterson, a University of Utah law professor who specializes in consumer protection, said in an email.
“You cannot lawfully lie to the public about conducting a random sweepstakes, lottery, or contest and then rig the results to hand-select the winners,” he said. “It really is not complicated. This is just fraud; a simple, ugly fraud on the public.”
He said Musk and his super PAC’s behavior could be “both a civil wrong and a crime.”
Musk’s America PAC declined to comment on that analysis or the views of other legal experts. Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chris Gober, a lawyer for America PAC, made the disclosure at a hearing about the giveaways. He said that the winners are not chosen by random, as in a lottery drawing, but that the super PAC instead selects the winners based on who it believes would be effective political spokespeople.
The disclosure flew in the face of what Musk said onstage at a Pennsylvania rally on Oct. 19, when he revealed the contest to draw attention to a petition supporting free speech and gun rights.
“We’re going to be awarding $1 million randomly to people who have signed the petition every day from now until the election,” Musk said, followed by wild applause from the audience.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Vote for the Dims and they'll give you an Obamaphone. Vote for the Dims and you get more welfare. Vote for the Dims and you get reparations --- if you're the "right" color.
If the Dims make it illegal for Musk to do his millionaire giveaway, they might make it easier for the Republicans bring a legal case against the Dims' vote buying.
NBC/Comcast. Not a credible news source.
Is Musk’s own lawyer credible? That’s who they’re citing.
“Could” According to NBC News.
of course it is not random, you have to enter the sweepstakes
lottery vs contest vs sweepstakes
https://odinlaw.com/whats-the-difference-between-a-contest-sweepstakes-and-lottery/
Isn’t that kind of implied? Isn’t that how sweepstakes/ lotteries operate? That the winner is chosen from a batch of entries? “You can’t win if you don’t play”.
Doesn’t matter. It is his money. If a political organization, which takes donations, does it, all sorts of laws pertain. But he is a private citizen and he can use his money as he wants. Or at least he could in the real America.
He could also be honest about how it works.
No one paid a Dime. That would make all the money game shows lotteries.
He can do with his money as he sees fit. But shouldn’t the criteria for eligibility be fully disclosed? Shouldn’t the people hoping for a million know what the criteria are for getting a shot at it, rather than thinking that the winners are chosen at random?
I'm still betting that they were chosen randomly.
I know it's not a lottery. The signers paid nothing and compensation on the part of the signer is a necessary part of a lottery.
That's all Elon is doing on a larger scale. If people had to pay to be part of some contest and he misrepresented the rules, that would be one thing. But that's not what is going on here. In essence anyone complaining is asserting they have a right to Elon's money even if he doesn't want to give it to them - which is a very Democrat thing to do. But for anyone sane, the notion that he can't do what he wants (within moral/legal limits) with his own money is just absurd.
It appears that he did misrepresent the rules. In his own words, “We’re going to be awarding $1 million randomly to people who have signed the petition every day from now until the election,”. But his own lawyer said in court that that wasn’t so, that the winners were selected according to their suitability as spokespersons.
His own lawyer said in court that the winners were not chosen at random.
I’m sure there is something in that document that clarified things....No matter what...they were still chosen randomly because they came out of a bucket...then a little research...so it had to be a two step process unless all the winners were chosen before anyone signed up for the “chance” at the pot.
Dang it. Will I have to give it back? 😢
Betcha got a thrill from posting this little dark cloud of “news”, eh, Coronal?
There is no other way to do it.
This is the rule verbiage on the signup page.
“Each person may only sign this petition once. Eligible people may only list one eligible person as their referrer. Signing the petition on behalf of another person is not permitted. Before payment is made, America PAC will verify the accuracy of all information of the referrer and referee. Payments of $600 or more will require the referrer to provide a signed IRS W-9 so an IRS 1099 can be issued. To be eligible, both the referrer and the petition signer must be registered voters of Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin.”
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