--- title: "Elon Musk Blows Off Court Appearance After Being Sued For Operating an Illegal Lottery" description: "Elon Musk was a no-show at his court ordered appearance for a hearing on his pro-Trump scheme to pay voters in swing state." date: "2024-10-31" modified: "2024-10-31" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/elon-musk-court-appearance-voters" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "donald trump" - "elon musk" - "the digest" --- # Elon Musk Blows Off Court Appearance After Being Sued For Operating an Illegal Lottery ![Elon Musk was a no-show at his court ordered appearance for a hearing on his pro-Trump scheme to pay voters in swing state.]() *\Image: Samuel Corum via Getty\* ## Gamblin' Man Elon Musk was ordered to attend a court hearing in Pennsylvania on Thursday, [after being sued]() for his [controversial scheme]() to pay voters in the key swing state ahead of the presidential election. The lawsuit was filed by Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner, accusing Musk and his pro-Trump [America PAC]() of running an illegal lottery by giving away $1 million in prizes to registered voters. But the [X-obsessed]() billionaire was a no-show, [*Reuters* reports](). That puts him at risk of being held in contempt of court and being fined by the judge. Our guess is that he'll be okay with the penalties, since he's got an ulterior motive: Musk filed a motion of removal to take the case to a federal court, [*CNN* reports](), which would delay proceedings and allow him to keep giving away money well through November 5. ## Whole Lotto Love Musk and his America PAC have contributed tens of millions of dollars to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, and its giveaway scheme is arguably the most brazen showing of its deep pockets. The America PAC is awarding a $1 million check every day to a signee of its petition — in addition to handing out [small payouts to tens of thousands of people]() who referred others to sign it. The Phillie DA says this is clearly a lottery — and an unauthorized one at that. "America PAC and Musk are lulling Philadelphia citizens — and others in the Commonwealth (and other swing states in the upcoming election) — to give up their personal identifying information and make a political pledge in exchange for the chance to win $1 million," the plaintiffs argue [in a complaint](). ## Court Ping Pong Musk's lawyers argued that the complaint "has little to do with state-law claims of nuisance and consumer protection." Instead, they say that the questions raised in the lawsuit touch on federal law and are "within the exclusive province" of federal courts, [per *CNN*](). It's unclear what will come of Musk's motion to move the case to a higher jurisdiction. Indeed, it's possible that a federal judge might send it back to a state court — which is what the DA is currently trying to convince them to do. "We will proceed to federal court and seek to address the issues there and have them addressed in state court. This is a case that addresses state law issues, and I'll leave it at that," an attorney for the DA said, [per *CBS*]()*.* **More on Musk meddling:** *[Elon Musk Says That If Trump Wins, He'll Cause the Economy to Crash]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()