Philly DA wraps up testimony during hearing on Musk giveaway
During his two-hour testimony at an ongoing hearing over Elon Musk and his super PAC's $1 million voter sweepstakes, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner characterized America PAC's admission that winners are preselected as the "most amazingly disingenuous defense I have ever heard."
"This was all political marketing masquerading as a lottery," Krasner said during the hearing in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas. "This has been a grift from the beginning. This has been a scam from the very beginning."
According to Chris Gober, a lawyer for Musk and America PAC, the winners were selected based on their "suitability" as spokespeople, signed a contract and received the million dollars as a "salary" for their work, despite Musk himself publicly saying that winners would be selected "randomly."
Krasner’s attorney, John Summers, described the claim as "a flat-out admission of liability." While America PAC has openly acknowledged that winners would serve as spokespeople, the hearing marks the first time they have disclosed that the winners were preselected.
"It is deceptive. It is misleading. It is taking advantage of people,” Krasner said. "They are doing everything under the sun to cover it up."
Musk's lawyers have repeatedly argued that the case itself is politically motivated, accusing Krasner of creating a "political circus." Krasner’s attorney attempted to counter that argument by mentioning that Krasner drives a Tesla -- made by the electric car company owned by Musk -- and would theoretically bring the same case against Taylor Swift if she arranged a similar scheme for Harris.
"I have brought action against Democrats in the past," Krasner said. "I would have brought an action against Taylor Swift if she did this. As far as I know, she didn't."
The court is currently on a lunch break following testimony from Krasner, who was the hearing's first witness.
-ABC News' Peter Charalambous