In the lead-up to Election Day, Musk—the richest person in the world—spent an estimated $300 million supporting Trump’s re-election bid. As part of this initiative, Musk promised, at first, to pay $47 to anyone who signed a petition supporting Trump and the America PAC.
A recently-filed lawsuit accuses the Elon Musk-controlled America PAC of breaking promises to pay swing state voters who signed a petition pledging their support to President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 general election.
According to CNBC, the proposed class-action lawsuit was filed earlier this week in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
The complaint names three lead plaintiffs, all of whom signed the America PAC petition while living in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Georgia, respectively. One of the participants claims to have been directly employed or contracted as an America PAC canvasser in Michigan and Georgia.
In the lead-up to Election Day, Musk—the richest person in the world—spent an estimated $300 million supporting Trump’s re-election bid. As part of this initiative, Musk promised, at first, to pay $47 to anyone who signed a petition supporting Trump and the America PAC.
Musk later raised the amount to $100, and promised additional payments for signatories who referred others.
Although critics raised concerns that Musk’s offer could constitute election interference, the billionaire brushed off these comments, saying that he found the entire exercise “fun.”
“I think it is kind of fun, and you know, it seems like a good use of money, basically,” he said.
The lawsuit alleges that all three of the plaintiffs are now “in communication with numerous others who referred voters to sign the America PAC petition, who are likewise frustrated that they did not receive full payment for their referrals.”
Attorneys for the Lichten & Liss-Riordan law firm, which is representing the plaintiffs, estimated that there may be “more than 100 Class Members,” who are, collectively, owed payments in excess of $5 million.
“This case is about a broken promise: Elon Musk promised supporters that they would be paid for signing a petition and referring others to do the same,” said attorney Shannon Liss-Riordan. “Our clients relied on that promise because they believed in Elon, but unfortunately, that promise was not kept. It appears the promise was broken for many others as well.”
Neither Musk nor America PAC have yet to comment on the lawsuit. However, in the past, America PAC has reaffirmed its commitment to paying canvassers who submitted legitimate signatures.
“[America PAC] is committed to paying for every legitimate petition signer, which is evidenced by the fact that we have paid tens of millions of dollars to canvassers for their hard work in support of our mission,” a spokesperson for America PAC told CNN in April.
Sources
Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC failed to pay swing state petition signers, new suit alleges
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