Musk Settles Suits Over $1M Giveaways to 2024 Election Voters
The Facts
- Elon Musk and his America PAC (Super PAC) settled the two remaining civil fraud lawsuits related to his daily $1 million giveaways to registered swing-state voters during the 2024 presidential election on Thursday. The filings did not disclose the terms.
- Notices filed in the cases inform the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas that the parties have reached a settlement and ask the court to vacate all deadlines and stay proceedings for 30 days to allow them to finalize and execute the agreement and seek preliminary approval.
- If approved, the settlements will excuse Musk from testifying under oath in the lawsuits McAferty v. Musk and Harvick v. Musk. In June, a federal judge ruled against his objections to sitting for a deposition.
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The Spin
Democratic narrative
Offering cash only to registered voters in battleground states during a presidential race counts as illegal vote buying under a petition label. A civil settlement settles private lawsuits alone, so criminal liability stays fully alive. Promising a random drawing while handpicking spokespeople created a false sales pitch and scooped up personal data under false pretenses.
Republican narrative
Million-dollar checks paid chosen spokespeople for advocacy work and carried zero link to cash for registering or voting. Absence of any liability finding means the fraud story never stuck and settlement with no admission of wrongdoing leaves the accusations hollow. Picking strong messengers for a petition drive is normal political organizing rather than deception.
