Wisconsin's DOJ must investigate Elon Musk's bribery scheme

There is no excuse for letting Musk operate with impunity.

Resurrecting a scheme that earned him a warning from the Department of Justice in 2020, Elon Musk has once again offered million dollar payments to voters — this time, in Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race. Despite Musk’s attempts to build plausible deniability into the giveaway, however, it is in facial violation of state election law and warrants immediate investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Wisconsin law is unambiguous. Wis. Stat. §12.11(1) and §12.60 declare that “Any person who…Offers, gives, or promises to give or lend, or endeavors to procure, anything of value…in order to induce any elector to…vote or refrain from voting…is guilty of a Class I felony.”

Legal experts have assailed Musk’s scheme as blatantly illegal. Today, for example, University of Wisconsin Election Research Center Director Barry Burden wrote that “Earlier payments were for registering but this is for voting. A clear violation of the state’s election bribery law.”