Michigan Officials Open Probe Into Elon Musk’s Pro-Trump PAC
The state’s top election official is a vocal opponent of election denialism and has been sued at least twice by The Republican National Committee this year.
David Swanson/Reuters
The Michigan secretary of state’s office opened an investigation over the weekend into a political action committee created and partially funded by Elon Musk.
The America PAC, which supports former president Donald Trump, has been collecting voter data from residents of battleground states, including Michigan—a potential violation of state law, according to authorities.
“Every citizen should know exactly how their personal information is being used by PACs, especially if an entity is claiming it will help people register to vote in Michigan or any other state,” a spokeswoman for the Michigan secretary of state’s office said in a statement to CNBC.
The PAC was gathering voter information through the website’s “register to vote section,” where, after providing a ZIP code, address and phone number, users would be directed to a page that said “thank you” alongside a message asking them to “complete the form below” to help finish the registration process.
As of Aug. 4, however, any mention of the form disappeared from the page, which now only reads “thank you.”
“The intent is to promote the principles that made America great in the first place. So I wouldn't say that I'm MAGA, 'Make America Great Again,' I think America is great. I'm more MAG - 'Make America Greater.'”@elonmusk tells @jordanbpeterson why he created a super PAC to help… pic.twitter.com/UQX25Vrzn7
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) July 22, 2024
According to AdImpact, the committee has shelled out more than $800,000 since early July for targeted digital marketing to battleground state voters namely in Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. Many of the ads encouraged people to register to vote at America PAC’s website.
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The Michigan secretary of state’s investigation seeks to determine if the Tesla founder’s committee violated state law by seeking the information. “We will refer potential violations to the Michigan Attorney General’s office as appropriate,” a spokeswoman for the department continued.
Michigan Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson speaks to reporters on midterm election day in 2022.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state and the state’s top election official, has been a vocal opponent of Trump and his allies’ election denialism.
She, along with a host of other Michigan Democrats, was sued at least twice by the Republican National Committee in 2024.
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