Elon Musk commits a crime, but it does not matter because he is rich – the nation

Elon Musk is actually paying people to register to vote. This is a violation of federal election laws and he should be prosecuted, fined and imprisoned for his many violations. Unfortunately, we’re talking about Elon Musk, and the person in charge of enforcing federal laws against him is Attorney General Merrick Garland — and all that means is that Musk won’t be prosecuted, fined, or sent to prison. The rules, you see, are different for rich, law-breaking white Republicans than they are for anyone else. I thought everyone knew that by now.

What Musk is doing isn’t complicated, but there’s enough misdirection in his scheme that it can be confusing to see what he’s up to. So let me explain. Through his political action committee, Musk is offering $1,000,000 lottery-style to people in “battleground” states — specifically Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina — who sign his PAC’s petition. The petition is a blanket pledge to “support” the First and Second Amendments (because of course a white South African whose family benefited from apartheid is a bit more interested in supporting the Second Amendment than, say, the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments that prevent people like Musk from doing here what people like Musk did in South Africa). If you sign the petition, you have a chance to win a million dollars. Musk handed out the first check last weekend.

Paying people or offering a lottery ticket to sign a petition is legal. that’s good It’s an exercise in free speech, at least in this funny country that equates money with speech.

The problem with Musk’s scheme is that in order to get the money, you have to be registered to vote. By making voter registration key to getting the money, Musk is trying to convince unregistered people to register to vote. that’s it illegal. As election law expert Rick Hassen points out, paying people, bribing people, or giving almost anything of monetary value to get them to register to vote is a violation of federal law.

For those playing at home, the law Hassen points to is 52 USC 10307(c), which states: “Whoever knowingly or willfully gives false information concerning his name, address, or period of residence in a voting district for the purpose of establishing of his right to register or vote, or conspires with another person to promote his false registration to vote or illegal voting, or pays or offers to pay or accept payment for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for not more than five years, or both.” (Hassen’s emphasis.)

The Justice Department clarified that this law does not apply to, say, driving voters to the polls. But that includes giving them cash, or booze, or food stamps, or… “lottery chances” to get them to sign up.

Musk is breaking the law, but for it to matter, someone has to prosecute him for his violations, and that job, unfortunately, is Merrick Garland’s. Garland sent Musk and his PAC a letter earlier this week “warning” that they “may” be violating federal law. Garland is reportedly monitoring and investigating the situation. Musk ignored the warning and announced more winners.

I know there are still people who would like to defend Garland’s historical inability to enforce laws against Republican political actors, but frankly, Garland’s response is beyond pathetic. It takes a Google search and half an hour of access to Westlaw to “investigate” whether “Hoo Boy, Register to Vote and Get a Chance to Win a Million Dollars” violates applicable federal standards. The Justice Department’s own “Election Crimes Handbook” explains that what Musk is doing is illegal. Garland only has to “investigate” the rules written by his own institution to know that Musk is breaking the law.

The strongly worded letter Garland sent to Musk was supposed to be a legal complaint filed in court and served to Musk while he was on stage handing out the fucking check.

But while Garland continues to be a national embarrassment, unable to do anything to anger the Republican base, the sad reality is that even applying the full force of the law against Musk will not stop his illegal actions. That’s because the full force of the law is incredibly weak in this case and doesn’t matter much to a rich white man.