Thursday, July 16, 2026 - Elon Musk could face criminal charges for violating Wisconsin election law when he gave some voters $1 million checks during the state’s high-stakes Supreme Court election last year.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission, a bipartisan panel
consisting of three Democrats and three Republicans, found probable cause that
the billionaire violated the state’s election bribery law.
According to a motion approved by the commission, Musk
likely broke the law "by making a social media post that offered one
million dollars to individuals who voted in the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court
Election in order to induce them to vote in that election".
The commission voted 5-1 in a closed session last Thursday
to refer two confidential complaints, brought by voters in Milwaukee and Green
Bay, to the Brown County district attorney’s office for possible criminal
prosecution.
Under state law, prosecutors have 40 days to notify the
commission of their decision on whether to file charges. Brown County District
Attorney David Lasee, a Republican, has not yet publicly commented.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and founder of SpaceX, spent heavily
in an effort to flip control of the Supreme Court in the battleground state. He
backed conservative candidate Brad Schimel, a former Wisconsin Attorney
General, with Musk and organizations he funded spending more than $20 million
on the race.
Schimel ultimately lost by 10 percentage points to liberal
candidate Susan Crawford, preserving a liberal majority on the high court. In
total, spending on the race topped $100 million, making it the most expensive
judicial election in U.S. history. Under scrutiny are Musk’s $1 million voter
giveaways.
“On Sunday night, I will give a talk in Wisconsin,” Musk
posted on X in late March. “Entrance is limited to those who have voted in the
Supreme Court election. I will also personally hand over two checks for a
million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote. This is
super important.” The post has since been deleted.
Soon after, Musk clarified in another post that
"entrance is limited to those who have signed the petition in opposition
to activist judges. I will also hand over checks for a million dollars to 2
people to be spokesmen for the petition."
Musk personally handed out two of the $1 million checks at a
rally in Brown County on March 30, 2025, shortly before the April 1 election.
Days prior, Musk’s America PAC awarded another
million-dollar check to a Wisconsin voter who signed its petition opposing
“activist judges.” The PAC also offered registered voters $100 if they signed
the petition or referred someone to sign it.
The referral is not the only effort to rein in Musk’s
political spending.
Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, filed a
lawsuit on March 28, 2025, seeking to stop Musk from distributing the checks.
Musk’s attorneys argued that an injunction would “restrain Musk’s political
speech and curtail his First Amendment rights,” maintaining that the giveaways
were intended to “generate a grassroots movement in opposition to activist
judges, not to expressly advocate for or against any candidate.” State courts
ultimately declined to block the giveaways.
Additionally, a pending civil lawsuit filed last June by the
government watchdog group Wisconsin Democracy Campaign seeks to permanently bar
Musk from offering similar cash payments to Wisconsin voters in future
elections. That lawsuit, currently pending in Brown County, alleges that the
giveaways violated state laws on election bribery and unauthorized lotteries.
Musk’s America PAC utilized a nearly identical tactic in the
lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, awarding $1 million daily to
swing-state voters who signed a petition supporting the First and Second
Amendments.
While a Pennsylvania judge allowed that giveaway to proceed
through Election Day, Wisconsin's prosecutors must now decide if the 2025 high
court cash rewards crossed the line into unlawful criminal inducement.
0 Comments