Musk Won't Face Charges Over Wisconsin Voter Giveaway

A Wisconsin special prosecutor announced Tuesday that Elon Musk will not face election bribery charges over a $1 million voter incentive offered during the 2025 state Supreme Court race. La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke, appointed to handle the case, said no jury would convict Musk of a crime.

The controversy stemmed from a social media post Musk made days before the election, promising to hand over two $1 million checks to attendees of a Green Bay event open only to those who had voted. He quickly replaced that post with one limiting attendance to signers of a petition against activist judges, with the money going to advocates of that petition.

The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission had referred complaints to prosecutors, suggesting Musk likely violated election law. But Gruenke, a Democrat, concluded that the original post, even if seen as a bribe, was corrected and no one was paid for voting. "It is a simple case of a poorly worded statement that was corrected and brought into compliance with the law," he said.

Musk, who spent at least $20 million backing Republican Brad Schimel, saw his candidate lose by 10 points to Susan Crawford, preserving the liberal majority on the court. The race became the most expensive judicial contest in U.S. history, with spending exceeding $100 million. Wisconsin's attorney general had sued to block the giveaways, but state courts rejected the effort.