- Elon Musk’s super PAC replaced a video featuring a $1 million giveaway winner who said she got the money, in part, to vote.
- Experts suggest that offering money in exchange for voting could be interpreted as a violation of bribery statutes.
- Musk, a supporter of conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel, has spent significant funds backing Schimel in the Supreme Court election.
Just how nervous is billionaire Elon Musk about allegations that he may be violating the state’s bribery statute by paying people to vote?
On Tuesday, Musk’s super PAC, America PAC, pulled a video from X featuring $1 million giveaway winner Ekaterina Deistler in which she said she received the money, in part, to “vote.” X is owned by the tech billionaire.
“My name’s Ekaterina Deistler,” she said in a video posted Monday morning. “I did exactly what Elon Musk told everyone to do: sign the petition, refer friends and family, vote, and now I have a million dollars.”
But the video was taken down yesterday, and America PAC posted a new video of Deistler on X on Tuesday afternoon.
“My name’s Ekaterina Deistler, and I’m from Green Bay, Wisconsin,” she said in the new video. “I did exactly what Elon Musk told everyone to do: sign the petition, refer friends and family, and now I have a million dollars.”
It’s almost exactly the same, except the word “vote” has been removed. She is no longer saying she was paid, in part, to vote in the Supreme Court race.
Andrew Romeo, a spokesman for America PAC, declined to say why the first video was taken down. “I don’t think we’re going to comment on it,” he said.
Jeff Mandell, general counsel of the progressive voting rights firm Law Forward, said it’s clear what’s going on.
“America PAC keeps changing its cover story, but the underlying reality is unchanged,” Mandell said. “That this should happen more than once shouts everything you need to know about their intentions.”
Musk, who has led President Donald Trump’s efforts to slash the side of the federal government, and two groups tied to him have spent more than $20 million helping conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel. He squares off today against liberal Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford.
Last week, Musk offered $1 million to someone who signed his “Petition In Opposition To Activist Judges.” A Green Bay resident ended up receiving that check.
Musk then promised to dole out two $1 million checks at his Sunday event in Green Bay “in appreciation for you taking the time to vote,” in a since-deleted post on X. Several experts said these giveaways could be seen as an inducement to vote, making it a possible violation of the state’s bribery statutes.
Musk said in a new post that he would instead be handing over the checks to two people who would serve as spokespeople for his petition. He ended up giving $1 million each to Deistler and Nicholas Jacobs, the chairman of the Wisconsin College Republicans.
Diestler, who works as a graphic designer, does not appear to have worked in politics. She could not be reached for comment.
Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or [email protected]. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.
This story was updated to add a video.
