Billionaire Elon Musk dodged a Philadelphia court hearing on Thursday, after asking to move a lawsuit seeking to halt his $1 million giveaways to registered US voters from state to federal court.
The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive had been ordered by a Pennsylvania state judge to attend the hearing, but his lawyers filed a motion late on Wednesday arguing that the case involved federal election issues and should be heard instead in a US District Court.
Philadelphia's chief prosecutor Larry Krasner, a Democrat, sued Mr Musk and his political action committee supportive of Republican Donald Trump, America PAC, on Monday, calling the $1 million giveaways to registered voters in election battleground states “an illegal lottery scheme”.
The move came days after the Justice Department warned Mr Musk and America PAC that the sweepstakes may breach federal law, which prohibits paying people to register to vote.
“Elon Musk didn't show,” John Summers, who is representing the Philadelphia district attorney's office in the case, told reporters after a brief hearing on Thursday morning.
“Elon Musk and his America PAC filed legal papers to have the case removed from this court to federal court and we will proceed to federal court.
“We will address the issues there and seek to have the matter remanded back to the state court. After all, this is a case that involves state law issues and I'll leave it at that.”
According to the America PAC website, 13 people, including four in Pennsylvania, have received the $1 million awards so far.
Mr Musk, who also owns X, formerly known as Twitter, has thrown his millions, time and considerable influence into backing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump since endorsing him in July.
The world's richest man has reportedly donated $118 million to Trump's political action committee, an organisation that collects funds for elections.
He also appeared on stage with Mr Trump at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania and hosted a series of town halls on his own in the eastern state seen as critical in the November election.
Mr Musk, who previously supported Barack Obama but has become increasingly conservative in recent years, peppers his 202 million followers on X daily with messages championing Mr Trump and denigrating his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.
Specs
Engine: 3.0L twin-turbo V6
Gearbox: 10-speed automatic
Power: 405hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 562Nm at 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.2L/100km
Price: From Dh292,845 (Reserve); from Dh320,145 (Presidential)
On sale: Now
Brief scoreline:
Wales 1
James 5'
Slovakia 0
Man of the Match: Dan James (Wales)
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
Scoreline:
Barcelona 2
Suarez 85', Messi 86'
Atletico Madrid 0
Red card: Diego Costa 28' (Atletico)
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
The specs
Engine: Turbocharged four-cylinder 2.7-litre
Power: 325hp
Torque: 500Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh189,700
On sale: now
Cases of coronavirus in the GCC as of March 15
Saudi Arabia – 103 infected, 0 dead, 1 recovered
UAE – 86 infected, 0 dead, 23 recovered
Bahrain – 210 infected, 0 dead, 44 recovered
Kuwait – 104 infected, 0 dead, 5 recovered
Qatar – 337 infected, 0 dead, 4 recovered
Oman – 19 infected, 0 dead, 9 recovered
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinFlx%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202021%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Amr%20Yussif%20(co-founder%20and%20CEO)%2C%20Mattieu%20Capelle%20(co-founder%20and%20CTO)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%20in%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20size%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%241.5m%20pre-seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Venture%20capital%20-%20Y%20Combinator%2C%20500%20Global%2C%20Dubai%20Future%20District%20Fund%2C%20Fox%20Ventures%2C%20Vector%20Fintech.%20Also%20a%20number%20of%20angel%20investors%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
A little about CVRL
Founded in 1985 by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, the Central Veterinary Research Laboratory (CVRL) is a government diagnostic centre that provides testing and research facilities to the UAE and neighbouring countries.
One of its main goals is to provide permanent treatment solutions for veterinary related diseases.
The taxidermy centre was established 12 years ago and is headed by Dr Ulrich Wernery.
Our legal consultants
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Match info
What: Fifa Club World Cup play-off
Who: Al Ain v Team Wellington
Where: Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
When: Wednesday, kick off 7.30pm
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Barcelona v Tottenham Hotspur, midnight
The rules of the road keeping cyclists safe
Cyclists must wear a helmet, arm and knee pads
Have a white front-light and a back red-light on their bike
They must place a number plate with reflective light to the back of the bike to alert road-users
Avoid carrying weights that could cause the bike to lose balance
They must cycle on designated lanes and areas and ride safe on pavements to avoid bumping into pedestrians
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3EFounder%3A%20Hani%20Abu%20Ghazaleh%3Cbr%3EBased%3A%20Abu%20Dhabi%2C%20with%20an%20office%20in%20Montreal%3Cbr%3EFounded%3A%202018%3Cbr%3ESector%3A%20Virtual%20Reality%3Cbr%3EInvestment%20raised%3A%20%241.2%20million%2C%20and%20nearing%20close%20of%20%245%20million%20new%20funding%20round%3Cbr%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%2012%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
