A Pennsylvania state judge on Monday allowed Elon Musk to make a $1 million-a-day donation to galvanize state voters, following a surprising day of testimony in which the billionaire’s aide acknowledged that his political group had chosen the winners of the contest.

A day before the tightly contested US presidential election between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump, lawyers for Musk’s pro-Trump America PAC tried to convince Judge Angelo Foglietta that the contest was not an “illegal lottery” like the one in Philadelphia. the attorney general claimed.

America PAC attorneys and director Chris Young said the group distributed the funds based on who would be the best spokesperson for the pro-Trump agenda, despite the billionaire’s claim that winners would be chosen at random.

Tesla CEO Musk donated $16 million to registered state voters who qualified for the gift by signing his political petition. His group, America PAC, announced a winner from Arizona on Monday and said the final winner from Michigan would be announced on Election Day on Tuesday.

America PAC launched the contest on October 19. The contest is open to registered voters who sign a petition pledging to support free speech and gun rights in seven key battleground states — Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Democratic Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner filed a lawsuit Oct. 28 to block the contest in Pennsylvania, claiming the payouts were an illegal lottery with vaguely defined rules. Krasner said he will also seek financial penalties in court.

Foglietta rejected Krasner’s offer in a brief written order and said he would explain his reasoning later.

Musk’s attorney, Andy Taylor, accused Krasner’s office of trying to impede Pennsylvanians’ rights by preventing them from signing the petition.

“They are trying to prevent the citizens of Pennsylvania from signing the petition for free speech and the right to bear arms,” ​​Taylor said in his closing statement.

Musk has been an outspoken Trump supporter this year, promoting the former president on social media platform X. It has donated nearly $120 million to America PAC so far to support voter mobilization and registration efforts, according to federal disclosures.

Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes will be critical in determining which candidate will win the 270 votes needed to be declared the winner.

‘ONE OF THE BIGGEST SCAMS’

While trying to convince Foglietta that the gift was not an illegal lottery, Musk’s lawyers said the gift was not a prize but compensation for those chosen to serve as spokespersons for the America PAC’s pro-Trump agenda.

Young, America PAC’s executive director, said he selected the winners from a pool of candidates featured in videos for the group and gave permission for their images to be used after reviewing their social media and meeting them outside of the event venues.

John Summers, an attorney for Krasner’s office, said the admission that the giveaway was not random makes this not only an illegal lottery but also a fraud.

“If their story is true, this is one of the biggest scams of the last 50 years,” Summers said in his closing statement.

Summers showed the court a clip of Musk at the Oct. 19 Trump rally saying that America PAC would randomly award $1 million rewards to people who signed the petition. Musk said in the video that “all we want” is for the winners to serve as spokespeople for the Americas PAC.

Young said he was surprised to hear Musk describe the gift as random at the rally. He also acknowledged that the winners signed confidentiality agreements that prevented them from talking about the terms of their contracts.

The giveaway falls into a gray area of ​​election law, and legal experts are divided on whether Musk violated federal laws against paying people to register to vote.

According to media reports, the U.S. Department of Justice warned America PAC that the gift could violate federal law, but federal prosecutors did not file any civil charges.

The Trump campaign relies heavily on outside groups to persuade voters; This means that the super PAC founded by Musk, the world’s richest man, is playing an outsized role in what is expected to be a very weak election.