Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul said Friday he would seek a court order to block tech billionaire and White House adviser Elon Musk from awarding million-dollar prizes to people at a weekend event ahead of next week’s pivotal state Supreme Court race.
“The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that elections in Wisconsin are safe, secure, free, and fair. We are aware of the offer recently posted by Elon Musk to award a million dollars to two people at an event in Wisconsin this weekend,” Kaul, a Democrat, said in a statement.
“Based on our understanding of applicable Wisconsin law, we intend to take legal action today to seek a court order to stop this from happening,” Kaul continued.
Musk, who has become a central figure in the race to decide partisan control of the state Supreme Court, has sunk millions of dollars on behalf of the conservative candidate in the race, Brad Schimel (who is also backed by President Donald Trump).
Musk announced on Friday morning that he would travel to Wisconsin for an event limited to those who had already voted in the election and that he would “personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote.”
But he deleted that post midday, replacing it with a similar message that removed any linkage between his actions and voting. He declared the $1 million winners would instead be “spokesmen” for his petition to oppose “activist judges,” and added the event would only be limited to those who signed his petition…