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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Sunday that Elon Musk’s plans to give $1 million to registered voters who sign his super PAC’s petition is “deeply concerning” and should be looked into by law enforcement.
“I think there are real questions with how he is spending money in this race, how the dark money is flowing, not just into Pennsylvania, but apparently now into the pockets of Pennsylvanians,” Shapiro said in an interview with NBC’s Kristen Welker on Meet the Press. “That is deeply concerning.”
“I think it’s something that law enforcement could take a look at,” he added. “I’m not the attorney general anymore of Pennsylvania. I’m the governor, but it does raise some serious questions.”
A day earlier, Musk made the announcement that would give away $1 million a day, at random, until the November 5 election, to one person who has signed his PAC’s petition supporting the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech, and the Second Amendment, with its right “to keep and bear arms.”
The first million went to a man identified as John Dreher during an event in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on Saturday.
From now until the election, the signees could be picked from Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin or North Carolina.
The billionaire founder of Tesla and Space X and owner of X who’s gone all-in on Republican Donald Trump’s candidacy for the White House, had already committed at least $70 million to help the former president.
But the giveaway is raising questions and alarms among some election experts who say it is a violation of the law to link a cash handout to signing a petition that also requires a person to be registered to vote.
“Look, Musk obviously has a right to be able to express his views. He’s made it very, very clear that he supports Donald Trump,” Shapiro said.
“Obviously, we have a difference of opinion. I don’t deny him that right. But when you start flowing this kind of money into politics, I think it raises serious questions that folks may want to take a look at.”
It’s unclear whether federal authorities are looking into the giveaway, NBC reported. The Independent reached out to Musk for comment.