According to the Associated Press, Pennsylvania Judge Angelo Foglietta did not immediately provide reasons for his decision even hours after the hearing.
“The $1 million recipient was not chosen by chance,” attorney Chris Gober said at the hearing, according to the Associated Press. “We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”
Mr. Gober told the court that America PAC had already decided that the final recipient would be voters from Michigan, US media reported.
On Monday, America PAC announced that a man named Joshua in Arizona received that day’s money.
In a post on Musk’s former Twitter handle,
But when the world’s richest person revealed the prize last month, many believed it was a random drawing for registered voters who had signed a petition in support of the First and Second Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
“We will randomly give out $1 million to people who sign petitions every day from now until the election,” Musk said at a campaign event.
Days later, the U.S. Department of Justice warned that the group may be violating election laws that prohibit people from paying to register to vote. Krasner’s office filed a lawsuit to try to stop it.
Mr. Musk has been campaigning aggressively to support Republican White House nominee Donald Trump in swing states across the country, and his committee has been pushing hard in Pennsylvania, where polls show the president is tied with his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. It turns out that it is.
A lawyer from Krasner’s office told Reuters that Mr. Gober’s comments in court were “a full admission of responsibility.”
At the hearing, prosecutors played a video of Musk, who is also SpaceX’s CEO, saying, “What we’re asking is for the winners to act as spokespeople for the group,” Reuters reported.
But Chris Young, director of America PAC, told the court that beneficiaries must have been vetted and have values consistent with the group, US media reported.
According to Reuters, those who receive the money sign non-disclosure agreements that block them from publicly discussing the terms of their contracts.
Mr. Musk did not attend Monday’s hearing.
Also on Monday, Joe Rogan released a podcast episode featuring a nearly three-hour interview with Musk.
In a post promoting the podcast from X, he said he would support former President Donald Trump.
“He (Musk) is presenting the most compelling case against Trump and I agree with him every step of the way,” Logan wrote.
