Wisconsin says Elon Musk's $1M giveaways look like bribery
Handing out giant checks to voters turned out to be legally questionable. Who could have guessed?
In what might be the least surprising plot twist of the year, election officials in Wisconsin took a look at Elon Musk handing out million-dollar checks during a high-stakes court race and decided that, yeah, that might actually violate election laws.
The bipartisan commission voted 5-1 to kick the matter over to local prosecutors, concluding there is probable cause that Musk's cash giveaways broke state anti-bribery laws. He was trying to get conservative candidate Brad Schimel elected to the Wisconsin Supreme Court by dangling $1 million prizes and $20 to $100 cash rewards for signing petitions. Schimel lost anyway to liberal judge Susan Crawford.
So the billionaire spent tens of millions of dollars, handed out sweepstakes money to voters, lost the election, and now gets a potential criminal referral out of it.
Turns out buying enthusiasm has an expiration date, and local district attorneys actually have internet access.
Source: WISN-TV
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