SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk speaks at a town hall with Republican candidate U.S. Senate Dave McCormick at the Roxain Theater on October 20, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Michael Swensen | Getty Images
A lawsuit by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office seeking to block Elon Musk and his political action committee from continuing to award $1 million prizes to swing state voters will be heard — for now at least — in federal court in Pennsylvania, a state court judge said Thursday.
But John Summers, a lawyer for Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner hours later asked a federal judge to “immediately” send the lawsuit back to state court.
“There is no federal question jurisdiction over the Complaint,” Summers wrote in a motion in federal court. “The Complaint asserts no federal claim; rather, it asserts state law claims for public nuisance for operation of an illegal lottery.”
Summers asked for an immediate hearing on his request.
Summers earlier Thursday had told reporters he would file such a motion after a brief hearing in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.
That hearing originally was scheduled to deal with an emergency request by Krasner to stop Musk and America PAC from continuing the $1 million awards.
District Attorney of Philadelphia Larry Krasner walks to attend Elon Musk’s hearing in a lawsuit by the Philadelphia District Attorney seeking to block Donald Trump supporter Musk’s $1 million-a-day giveaway to swing state voters, at City Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., October 31, 2024.
Matthew Hatcher | Reuters
But attorneys for Musk and America PAC late Wednesday filed a notice of removal in Pennsylvania federal court hours after a Court of Common Pleas Judge Angelo Foglietta ordered the Tesla CEO to personally appear for the emergency hearing.
The notice argued that because that PAC is registered as a federal entity, it is not subject to state law.
“While the Complaint purports to raise only state-law claims relating to public nuisance and consumer protection, DA Krasner’s claims, as evident on the face of the Complaint, turn principally on the allegation that Defendants are somehow unlawfully interfering with a federal election,” the filing says.
Musk did not show up for Thursday’s hearing, but his lawyers attended.
Matthew Haverstick, a lawyer for Musk and the PAC, at the hearing said the billionaire is a busy man who could not “materialize” on 12-hours notice. Haverstick also said Musk was named as a defendant as a “publicity stunt” by the DA.
Foglietta at the hearing conceded that Musk’s removal notice meant the case for now could not be heard in the Court of Common Pleas.
Summers during the hearing called Musk’s last-minute removal motion “cowardly, as well as irresponsible.”
It is not clear how quickly a federal judge will rule on either Krasner’s request to move the case back to state court, or to halt the lottery.
Krasner’s lawsuit, which claims Musk’s $1 million giveaway is an illegal, unregulated lottery, was filed in Court of Common Pleas on Monday.
A hearing on Krasner’s request for an emergency injunction to block the lottery from continuing was originally scheduled for Friday.
On Wednesday, lawyers for Krasner in a court filing raised security concerns due to “antisemitic attacks on” the district attorney from Musk’s social media followers, one of whom posted the prosecutor’s home address online. The attorneys also asked the judge in the case to order Musk and a representative for America PAC to appear in person for Friday’s hearing.
Later Wednesday, the judge reset the hearing to Thursday morning, and ordered Musk to be in attendance.
Musk and his America PAC have offered the supposedly random cash prizes to people in one of seven swing states who sign a petition “in support of the Constitution.” The DA’s suit alleges Musk is trying to influence voters in the election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Musk is heavily backing Trump in the race.
“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,” Krasner’s lawsuit says. “That is a lottery.”
The U.S. Department of Justice previously warned America PAC the giveaway might violate federal election law, but had not filed a court action to block it.
America PAC has said it has given away a total of $12 million in the lottery.
Four of the $1 million awards went to people in Pennsylvania, the most of any of the swing states eligible for the prize.
– Additional reporting by NBC News’ Daniel Barnes and MSNBC Legal Correspondent Lisa Rubin
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