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Just arrest him already [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-30
Elon Musk handed out a pair of million dollar checks to Wisconsin voters on Sunday, after announcing last week that he would do it. The Attorney General of Wisconsin thought it was against the law, and tried to keep him from doing it by going to court to get an injunction. Because that’s what you do to rich people who are going to break the law, I guess? Get a court order telling them not to do it? It didn't matter, because the lawsuit failed and Musk gave away the money on schedule.
Here’s a wild idea: forget about court orders and just arrest him. It’s a felony under Wisconsin law to offer someone money to vote. Under Wisconsin Statute 12.11 (election bribery):
(1) In this section, “anything of value” includes any amount of money, or any object which has utility independent of any political message it contains and the value of which exceeds $1. The prohibitions of this section apply to the distribution of material printed at public expense and available for free distribution if such materials are accompanied by a political message. (1m) Any person who does any of the following violates this chapter: (a) Offers, gives, lends or promises to give or lend, or endeavors to procure, anything of value, or any office or employment or any privilege or immunity to, or for, any elector, or to or for any other person, in order to induce any elector to: 1. Go to or refrain from going to the polls. 2. Vote or refrain from voting. 3. Vote or refrain from voting for or against a particular person. 4. Vote or refrain from voting for or against a particular referendum; or on account of any elector having done any of the above. (b) Receives, agrees or contracts to receive or accept any money, gift, loan, valuable consideration, office or employment personally or for any other person, in consideration that the person or any elector will, so act or has so acted. (c) Advances, pays or causes to be paid any money to or for the use of any person with the intent that such money or any part thereof will be used to bribe electors at any election.
(My emphasis.) The law doesn’t require that you try to get someone to vote for or against a specific candidate; bribing someone to simply go out to vote is enough.
On March 27, Musk posted on X/Twitter that “On Sunday night, I will give a talk in Wisconsin. Entrance is limited to those who have voted in the Supreme Court election. I will also personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote. This is super important.”
Twelve hours later he took down the post, and then shortly thereafter “clarified” his deleted post by writing ““On Sunday night, I will give a talk in Wisconsin. To clarify a previous post, entrance is limited to those who have signed the petition in opposition to activist judges. I will also hand over checks for a million dollars to 2 people to be spokesmen for the petition.”
(In other words, he realized his offer was illegal and withdrew it, and tried to delete the evidence.)
Thing is, he publicly made the offer. At that point, the crime was already complete. He “offered” or “promised to give” something of value to an elector, specifically, “those who have voted in the Supreme Court election.” He promised on Thursday to make the gift on Sunday if you voted and then showed up in person. He promised “two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote.” I think the only reasonable way to interpret that is a quid pro quo: you vote before Sunday and show up at the event, and Elon Musk might personally hand you $1 million for voting. That’s election bribery under the law.
It doesn’t matter that Musk took down the offer later. He made it. He tried to get people to vote with an offer of money. He broke the law. It doesn’t matter that he might come up with a different explanation for the checks he gave away (he was paying “spokespeople for his political group”). The offer he made on Thursday was still illegal.
What happens if someone violates the election bribery law? Well, according to Wis. Stat. 12.60(1)(a), whoever commits election bribery is “guilty of a Class I felony.” Wis. Stat. 939.50(3)(i) states that the penalty for a Class I felony is “a fine not to exceed $10,000 or imprisonment not to exceed 3 years and 6 months, or both.”
What Musk did could get him up to 3 ½ years in a Wisconsin prison if he can’t talk his way out of it.
He might have defenses against an election bribery charge. Fine. Let him make those defenses in court. Indict him, take him to trial. Let him try to convince a judge to throw out the case, or convince a jury that he didn’t violate the law. That’s why we have juries.
We’re supposed to be a country where the rule of law matters. Elon Musk openly broke the law. Wisconsin’s AG should simply charge him with that crime, take the case to trial, and let the justice system work.
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