On Thursday, the major broadcast network morning news shows were eager to share through anonymous sources that the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris Justice Department (DOJ) has officially put Tesla founder and X owner Elon Musk on notice with the claim his daily $1 million giveaway to registered voters in seven swing states might be deemed illegal.
In turn, for the left, there’s hope alive for the DOJ to subject Musk to a criminal investigation.
CBS has been by far the most aggressive with coverage all week on this. CBS Mornings co-host Nate Burleson cued up the latest Musk segment by sharing “CBS News has confirmed a Justice Department warning to Musk’s super PAC” originally reported by CNN.
Unfortunately, I'm here to report the liberal media are still at it, trying to have the Biden-Harris DOJ crack down on @TheAmericaPAC and @ElonMusk pic.twitter.com/FAp8RJjFw2
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 24, 2024
Senior business correspondent Jo-Ling Kent touted the anti-free speech and Musk-hating group Public Citizen as a “non-partisan advocacy group” concerned about this (click “expand”):
We confirmed that the DOJ has sent a letter in the last few days to Elon Musk’s America PAC, basically warning that the $1 million checks he’s giving to registered voters may violate federal law. The world’s richest man is randomly selecting seven voters in battleground states who sign a petitection [sic] supporting the First and Second Amendments. And, so far, the PAC has given out four sweepstastyle checks like those, three in Pennsylvania, and one in Holly Springs, North Carolina. And this DOJ warning apparently comes from the section of the agency that investigates election-related legal violations and the DOJ itself has declined to comment. And now the nonpartisan advocacy group Public Citizen has weighed in, they’ve filed an FEC complaint, requesting an investigation as well.
Now, the federal election law says it is a crime to pay anyone to vote or register to vote and legal scholars that we’ve been talking to say this appears to be a clear violation, but it could be interpreted in a gray area, since Musk is asking people to sign a petition. Now, Musk himself has already poured $75 million into his own PAC to get Trump voters to the polls. We expect to see more money poured in, in these final two weeks. And, of course, if you’re on X — you’re seeing it — Musk, who owns what is formerly Twitter has been promoting Trump to his 200 million-plus followers and, of course, was promised a prominent role in a second Trump White House last month. Now, we’ve reached out to Musk and his PAC for comment on the DOJ letter and they have not gotten back to us[.]
NBC’s Today was also on the warpath. Co-host Savannah Guthrie declared in a tease that the regime had put Musk “on notice....warning [him] about his cash giveaway offer to swing-state voters.”
Saturday co-host and senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett had the story that the millions “have caught the attention of the U.S. Justice Department” and “raising new legal questions this morning for the tech giant” (i.e. leftists and Harris allies).
“The super PAC promising that prize money to people who pledge their support for First and Second Amendment rights, but in order to get the money, you have to be registered to vote in one of seven swing states, prompting legal scrutiny by some Democrats,” she added in a lead-in to Governor Josh Shapiro (D-PA) calling for a probe.
Admirably, Jarrett pointed out voter registration recently closed in Pennsylvania and let an unidentified election law expert suck some air out of the leftist balloon by stating “it’s unlikely that they would prosecute” Musk, but the letter’s “a shot across the bow.”
ABC’s idolatrous Trump hater Rachel Scott took a few moments out of her Good Morning America segment fawning over former Trump chief of staff John Kelly’s wild claims about the former President being a fascist and Adolf Hitler enthusiast to tut-tut about Musk being in trouble:
Musk is under scrutiny for his promise to give $1 million to registered voters who sign his political organization’s petition. He’s already handed out four checks...Sources tell ABC News the Justice Department has sent a letter warning Musk that his giveaway may violate federal law against paying voters. And Pennsylvania is one of though critical battlegrounds where Elon Musk handed out one of those checks. The governor in that state saying that law enforcement should be looking into this.
Of course, she made sure to bring that up again in the second hour.
The Wednesday night newscasts were also giddy about their friends getting involved.
Jarrett also covered much of this on NBC Nightly News, hyping that Musk has “earned the attention of the Justice Department” and touting senior Washington correspondent Hallie Jackson asking Harris about it while traveling with her campaign.
Meanwhile, CBS congressional correspondent Nikole Killion ended her CBS Evening News piece on the John Kelly hubbub by boasting that “CBS News has learned that the Justice Department has sent a letter to a super PAC run by one of Trump's biggest backers, Elon Musk. The DOJ says that a recent $1 million giveaway to registered voters to sign a petition could violate federal law.”
CBS has taken particular fascination with this. Even after the Monday morning giddiness hoping Musk faces prison time, they’ve kept it up all week. Monday’s CBS Evening News had anchor Norah O’Donnell huffing that “Musk’s endgame” with the contest has “unanswered questions.”
Kent suggesting nefariousness, attacking Musk since his “companies SpaceX and Tesla have benefited from billions in federal government grants and contracts” and claimed “[n]early 60 percent” of his election posts on X “amplified false or misleading information, including unsubstantiated conspiracies.”
Kent came back for Tuesday’s CBS Mornings and complained “Musk will likely not be prosecuted because..it might not make a big difference this close to the election,” a step back from what a liberal election law guest floated on previous day’s CBS Mornings Plus.
To see the relevant transcripts from October 24, click here (for ABC), here (for CBS), and here (for NBC).
