DOJ warns Musk $1 million payments to voters may be illegal, FEC complaint filed

The Department of Justice sent a letter to Elon Musk’s Super PAC, warning them that the $1 million dollar a day giveaway to registered voters may be illegal. America PAC has given away at least $4 million dollars to 4 registered voters in swing states who sign a petition supporting the first and second amendments. 

According to multiple reports, the letter came from the DOJ’s public integrity unit which handles election related matters. Letters like this typically don’t state next steps and don’t necessarily mean an investigation has been opened, they are intended to get the recipient to change their course of action. 

In addition to the letter from the DOJ, the watchdog group Public Citizen filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging the payments violate Title 52, the section of federal law that covers voting and elections. 

Public Citizen cited the Federal Election Campaign Act which states anyone found guilty of paying or accepting payment for either voting or registering to vote can be fined up to $10,000 or imprisoned for up to five years. The complaint asked the FEC to investigate. 

Musk said in exchange for the money he’s asking the recipients to be a spokesperson for the petition. Straight Arrow News spoke with Jerry Goldfeder, an attorney who has been practicing election law for more than 40 years. Goldfeder said Musks giveaway is illegal because the only people who are eligible are registered voters. 

Jerry Goldfeder: Either they are being paid and encouraged to register or perhaps they’re being rewarded for having registered previously. So there’s a real linkage between paying someone money and the registration requirement that he’s put into place. That’s not permitted.

Ray Bogan: When Elon Musk gave out the first reward, he said, “The only thing we ask for the million dollars is that you be a spokesperson for the petition.” When he makes a public statement like that about what he says the cause is, does that make a difference?

Jerry Goldfeder: Not really because he’s requiring someone to be a registered voter. So either they’re going to register in order to sign the petition or they’re being rewarded for having been registered because those are the only people who can get this money. So there’s a direct linkage between registration and the money and that’s not permitted under the law.

Ray: What could the potential punishment be? And the second part of the question is, could the people who receive the money ultimately have to pay it back?

Jerry Goldfeder: Well, I don’t think they’d have to pay it back, but that’s an interesting issue. The Department of Justice or the FEC may require them to do so under their different set of statutes.

But the violation, if there is a violation of the statute, as I think that there is, the penalties could be civil penalties, fines against Elon Musk, or it could be a criminal case, in which case they’d have to find intent to violate the laws. And at this point, he certainly knows that the laws exist because there’s been a lot of commenting on it on social media, on TV, on all sorts of cable and so on. So perhaps in the beginning, he didn’t realize he was breaking the law, perhaps, but at this point he certainly should be aware and he certainly has what we call constructive knowledge of breaking the law. So I think that there’s a civil exposure as well as criminal exposure.

As Goldfeder explained, even if the FEC and DOJ decide to open formal investigations, they will take a very long time to have final results. For more reporting on the 2024 election, download the SAN app. And be sure to follow us on election night for up to date results.