The U.S. Department of Justice has issued a warning to Elon Musk regarding the daily $1 million donations his pro-Trump political action committee (PAC) is making in key battleground states for the upcoming election. According to media reports on Wednesday, these donations may be in violation of federal election law.
The Justice Department’s Warning
The department’s public integrity division, which investigates potential election law violations, sent a letter to Musk’s America PAC “in recent days,” according to CNN.
When asked for comment by USA TODAY, the Department of Justice declined to respond. Musk also did not reply to a request for comment sent via X, his social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Musk’s Support for Trump
In recent weeks, Musk has publicly demonstrated his support for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Last weekend, he added these daily $1 million donations to his strategy of backing the candidate.
In a post on X, Musk defended what he called random donations, stating that eligible recipients “do not need to register as Republicans or vote in the November 5th election.”
Petition Details
However, the online petition from his PAC offering the money requires participants to pledge support for the Second Amendment, a political stance against gun control that Trump advocates and his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, opposes.
“Our goal is to get 1 million registered voters in key swing states to sign in support of the Constitution, particularly free speech and the right to bear arms,” the petition reads. It also provides links to online voter registration forms in the eligible states: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and North Carolina.
The Legal Issue
So far, Musk has not publicly addressed the potential legal issue of limiting donations to only registered voters.
Robert Heberle, head of the DOJ’s election crimes division, sent the “brief warning letter” to America PAC’s lawyer, Chris Gober. The letter indicates that offering anything of value to influence voting violates U.S. laws prohibiting payments to sway votes, according to 24sight.news.
ABC News, citing a source, also confirmed that the letter came from the DOJ’s election crimes division within the public integrity section.
Recipients So Far
According to Musk’s online petition, four voters have already received the payment—the first three in Pennsylvania, followed by a fourth in North Carolina. The PAC states that the offer expires on Election Day, November 5th.
Request for Investigation
On Monday, 11 former Republican legislators, Department of Justice officials, and advisors requested Attorney General Merrick Garland investigate the billionaire and SpaceX founder for distributing cash donations to voters in key battleground states who sign the petition from his political organization.
The letter argued that Musk’s established donations violate laws prohibiting payments to people to register to vote.
“We are unaware of anything like this in modern political history,” wrote the former Republican officials, who no longer work for the U.S. government.
