Elon Musk moves voter lottery lawsuit in federal court

A lawsuit by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office seeking to block Elon Musk and his political action committee from continuing to award $1 million prizes to swing state voters will be heard — for now at least — in federal court in Pennsylvania, a state court judge said Thursday.

But John Summers, a lawyer for Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner hours later asked a federal judge to “immediately” send the lawsuit back to state court.

“There is no federal question jurisdiction over the Complaint,” Summers wrote in a motion in federal court. “The Complaint asserts no federal claim; rather, it asserts state law claims for public nuisance for operation of an illegal lottery.”

Summers asked for an immediate hearing on his request.

Summers earlier Thursday had told reporters he would file such a motion after a brief hearing in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.

That hearing originally was scheduled to deal with an emergency request by Krasner to stop Musk and America PAC from continuing the $1 million awards.

But attorneys for Musk and America PAC late Wednesday filed a notice of removal in Pennsylvania federal court hours after a Court of Common Pleas Judge Angelo Foglietta ordered the Tesla CEO to personally appear for the emergency hearing.

The notice argued that because that PAC is registered as a federal entity, it is not subject to state law.

“While the Complaint purports to raise only state-law claims relating to public nuisance and consumer protection, DA Krasner’s claims, as evident on the face of the Complaint, turn principally on the allegation that Defendants are somehow unlawfully interfering with a federal election,” the filing says.

Musk did not show up for Thursday’s hearing, but his lawyers attended.

Matthew Haverstick, a lawyer for Musk and the PAC, at the hearing said the billionaire is a busy man who could not “materialize” on 12-hours notice. Haverstick also said Musk was named as a defendant as a “publicity stunt” by the DA.

Foglietta at the hearing conceded that Musk’s removal notice meant the case for now could not be heard in the Court of Common Pleas.

Summers during the hearing called Musk’s last-minute removal motion “cowardly, as well as irresponsible.”

It is not clear how quickly a federal judge will rule on either Krasner’s request to move the case back to state court, or to halt the lottery.

Krasner’s lawsuit, which claims Musk’s $1 million giveaway is an illegal, unregulated lottery, was…