Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, to prevent him from fulfilling offers to pay $1 million in exchange for influencing local election outcomes.
The legal action comes ahead of the Wisconsin Supreme Court election, which is expected to be highly contested. Kaul alleges that Musk’s actions could unlawfully interfere with the electoral process.
The lawsuit follows a social media post by Musk, in which he suggested visiting Wisconsin to personally distribute $2 million.
Musk later deleted the post and clarified that the visit was not intended to influence the election. He explained that his goal was to support activities related to democracy and innovation without violating any laws.
Despite Musk’s clarification, Kaul filed the lawsuit, arguing that any financial offers, even if not directly linked to the election, could damage public trust in the integrity of the election process.
The lawsuit seeks to block Musk from distributing money that could potentially influence the election or any future elections in Wisconsin.
Musk’s representatives responded, claiming that the lawsuit misinterprets his intentions.
They stated that Musk’s goal was to support local innovation and community projects, unrelated to the election.
Musk’s team reiterated that no illegal actions or attempts to influence the election had been planned or carried out.