A federal magistrate judge has ordered Elon Musk to sit for a sworn deposition in a fraud lawsuit alleging his political action committee deceived over one million Americans who signed a petition in exchange for what was marketed as a random chance to win one million dollars.
The Allegations Against America PAC
Two Arizona women, Jacqueline McAferty and Joy Harvick, filed the lawsuit claiming America PAC misled them during the 2024 election cycle. At an October 2024 town hall in Pennsylvania, Musk promised to award one million dollars daily to registered voters randomly selected from petition signers who supported First and Second Amendment protections. The plaintiffs say they provided personal information including names, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses based on this representation.
The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla Inc. tried to avoid being deposed in the pair of cases filed in federal court
The lawsuit took a significant turn when America PAC director Christopher Young admitted during a February deposition that winners were not chosen randomly. Young testified that recipients were handpicked to serve as effective spokespeople for the organization. When asked about Musk’s public claim of random selection, Young stated those were not the words he would have chosen to describe the process.
Court Ruling and Potential Damages
U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Hightower in Austin recommended the fraud claim proceed to trial on Wednesday, rejecting arguments from Musk’s legal team seeking dismissal. The judge also ordered Musk to produce internal documents his attorneys had previously submitted with redacted sections. America PAC reported collecting over one million signatures through the petition drive. The court cited data valuation as low as forty-seven dollars per person, putting potential damages above forty-seven million dollars if the lawsuit achieves class-action status covering all signers.
Legal and Electoral Concerns
The giveaway program raised immediate red flags among election law experts. University of California Los Angeles professor Rick Hasen characterized the initiative as clearly illegal vote buying when it launched, noting the program exclusively targeted registered voters in swing states. The restriction to battleground states and voter registration requirements distinguished this promotion from typical sweepstakes. No date has been scheduled yet for Musk’s deposition, but the court order requires him to answer questions under oath from opposing attorneys regarding the political action committee’s operations and marketing claims.