Eleven former Republican officials signed a letter urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Tesla CEO Elon Musk over the actions of his America PAC.
The letter, obtained by the Washington Post, argued that Musk’s latest move to pay registered voters who sign a petition in defense of the First and Second Amendments constitutes bribery.
“We urge you to investigate whether America PAC’s payments are prohibited payments for voter
registration. We recognize that they are framed as payments for signing a petition, or for
referring voters who sign,” the letter read. “But many of the payments are restricted to registered voters, so anyone who wishes to get paid must first register. To facilitate that, the petition webpage
includes links to voter registration websites for each of the seven states, directly alongside the
offer of payment. And the signing and referral payments are available only until October 21, the
registration cutoff date in Pennsylvania.”
The signatories argued that the petition was too “bland,” indicating that something was amiss.
“Moreover, while the usual purpose of a petition is to demonstrate public support for some
proposition, America PAC’s petition does not appear to serve that purpose. The substance of the
petition is the bland statement, ‘I am pledging my support for the First and Second
Amendments,’” they wrote. “And, critically, America PAC has not made the names or numbers of petition signers public–so the petition provides no demonstration of public support for even that
statement.”
After initially offering $47 for every referral resulting in a signature, Musk upped the ante over the weekend by announcing a lottery awarding of $1 million per day until the election to signatories.
Nearly all of the signatories of the letter calling for Musk’s investigation are already known as vocal opponents of Trump, including former special adviser to Vice President Mike Pence Olivia Troye; George H.W. Bush Deputy Attorney General Dan Ayer; and former Rep. Claudine Schneider.
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One of the signatories, Richard Painter, Chief Ethics Lawyer to President George W. Bush, wrote a book titled, American Nero: The History of the Destruction of the Rule of Law, and Why Trump Is the Worst Offender.
The group isn’t the first to cast doubt on the legality of Musk’s move; Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) cast doubt over the legality of Musk’s giveaway in Pennsylvania, adding that it is “something that law enforcement could take a look at.” He clarified that while Musk is free to vocalize his support for Trump, the manner of his financial investment into ensuring Trump’s victory “raises serious questions.”