Molly Beck
MADISON - A panel of state appeals judges on Saturday rejected an effort by Attorney General Josh Kaul to block Elon Musk from paying voters in Wisconsin ahead of a pivotal state Supreme Court election on Tuesday.
A Madison-based state appeals court on Saturday declined to quickly intervene in an event Musk planned to hold Sunday during which he initially said he would pay two voters each $1 million and later backtracked and said the money would go to people who signed a petition to oppose judges who rule against President Donald Trump.
The appeals panel rejected a motion filed by Kaul late Friday seeking emergency relief after a Columbia County circuit judge rejected hearing Kaul's lawsuit against Musk before Sunday, according to Kaul.
Now, Kaul may ask the state Supreme Court to step in before Sunday but a spokesman for Kaul did not immediately say whether the Democratic attorney general planned to ask the high court.
In the order from the appeals court, the judges wrote Kaul had not filed or supported his request properly, which forced them to deny the request.
In a since-deleted post on X, Musk said he would hold an event Sunday in Wisconsin and hand out $1 million checks to voters "in appreciation for you taking the time to vote."
But after election experts and Democrats raised questions about whether the offer violated the state's election bribery laws, Musk deleted the post and said he would instead be handing over the checks to two people who would serve as spokespeople for his "Petition In Opposition To Activist Judges." The new post also no longer said attendance would be limited "to those who have voted in the Supreme Court election," as the original post had stated.
"To clarify a previous post, entrance is limited to those who have signed the petition in opposition to activist judges," Musk wrote. "I will also hand over checks for a million dollars to 2 people to be spokesmen for the petition."
Musk, a close ally of Trump, has poured about $20 million into the race to back conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel through spending from his own coffers and via two outside groups.
Schimel has sought to distance himself from Musk's event in recent days.
"We have no plans to be there. We have a very aggressive campaign calendar," Schimel told reporters Friday. "I have no idea what he's doing. I have no idea what this rally is."
Liberal Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford called Musk's activities "immoral" on Saturday.
Kaul's lawsuit seeks a restraining order barring Musk "from any further promotion of the million-dollar gifts" to attendees of the planned Sunday event and "from making any payments to Wisconsin electors to vote."
In an odd twist, Crawford was initially assigned to oversee the case involving her race but a spokesman said it was a random assignment and that she will recuse.
The case was quickly reassigned to Columbia County Circuit Judge W. Andrew Voigt.
A spokesman for America PAC declined to comment on Kaul's plans.
The move comes after Kaul and Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern received a letter from the liberal Madison-based Law Forward legal firm, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and State Democracy Defenders Fund seeking "an immediate investigation."The groups asked Kaul and Lovern to review Musk's America PAC's offer to pay $100 to Wisconsin voters for signing a petition opposing 'activist judges' who have ruled against President Donald Trump and Musk's Thursday announcement of plans to give two voters each $1 million checks.
Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.
Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment