Shapiro Calls for Probe Into Musk’s Million Dollar Super PAC Giveaway

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro warned that Elon Musk’s new pledge to give out $1 million per day to voters who sign his super PAC’s petition is “deeply concerning” - and called for authorities to look into the giveaway.

“I think there are real questions with how he is spending money in this race, how the money is flowing not just into Pennsylvania but apparently now into the pockets of Pennsylvanians. That is deeply concerning,” Shapiro said Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press.

The Tesla billionaire announced Saturday that he’d be giving out $1 million per day to voters who sign his super PAC petition “in favor of free speech and the right to bear arms,” with the huge monetary handouts running up until the election.

Shapiro said it’s likely that Musk’s passionate support of Donald Trump plays a role in the scheme.

“Look, Musk obviously has a right to be able to address his views, he‘s made it very, very clear that he supports Donald Trump,” he said.

“I don’t – obviously we have a difference of opinion – I don’t deny him that right, but when you start flowing this kind of money into politics I think it raises serious questions that folks may want to take a look at."

“So you think it might not be legal, yes or no?” Welker asked again.

Shapiro dodged answering the question outright, but suggested that the issue of legality should definitely be looked into further by the authorities.

“I think it‘s something that law enforcement can take a look at. I‘m not the attorney general anymore of Pennsylvania, I’m the governor, but it does raise some serious questions,” he concluded.

One of the country’s leading election law experts, Richard L. Hasen, also suggested that what Musk is doing appears to be illegal.

“Though maybe some of the other things Musk was doing were of murky legality, this one is clearly illegal,” wrote Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, on his Election Law Blog.

Hasen said the practice is known as “vote buying” and involves offering to pay or accept payment for the registration to vote or voting.

In the Department of Justice’s Election Crimes Manual, it states that vote buying or bribing can be anything having monetary value, including “lottery chances” such as the opportunity to win $1 million for signing a petition.