Jacqueline McAferty, an Arizona resident, has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and America PAC, an organization supporting Mr. Trump, in a Texas federal court, alleging that the PAC's $1 million daily lottery program for voters registered in several states is a form of fraud.
The class action lawsuit comes a day after a Philadelphia judge denied Musk’s request to end the lottery. Notably, the lawsuit appears to have been prompted by testimony from the PAC’s attorney in a Philadelphia courtroom. While Musk had previously claimed that the winner would be chosen “at random,” the complaint says he made false statements.
During the hearing, Chris Gober — a Republican lawyer and former treasurer of America PAC — told the court that the actual recipients of the $1 million were predetermined: “The recipients of the $1 million were not randomly selected.”
“We know exactly who will be announced as the recipient of the $1 million today and tomorrow,” attorney Chris said. This testimony contradicts Elon Musk’s public statement when he announced the program at a rally in Pennsylvania, claiming that the money would be given out randomly.
According to the complaint, McAferty entered the program on October 20, the day Musk officially announced the contest. She alleges that Musk intentionally tricked participants into signing America PAC’s petition in order to collect their personal data.
To participate, voters must provide information such as their name, email, address, and phone number. The lawsuit points out that the petition does not specify the purpose for which the data will be used or limit the sale of participants’ personal data.
The lawsuit also claims that Musk's lottery program was intended to attract large amounts of traffic to his X platform (formerly Twitter), thereby increasing interactions on the platform.
