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Wisconsin panel refers Elon Musk $1M voter‑check probe to local DA

techJul 15, 2026496,123

The Wisconsin Elections Commission found probable cause that Elon Musk likely violated state election bribery law by offering $1 million checks to voters in the 2025 state Supreme Court race and last week referred two confidential complaints to Brown County District Attorney David Lasee. The six-member bipartisan commission voted 5 to 1 in closed session to send the matters to prosecutors, who have 40 days to report back to the commission and may bring criminal charges. Musk and groups he supported spent at least $20 million backing Republican-backed candidate Brad Schimel, who lost by 10 percentage points to Democrat-backed Susan Crawford; total spending in the race topped $100 million, the most expensive judicial contest in US history. Three Wisconsin voters received checks, including two who got them in person at a Green Bay rally days before the election; the complaints were filed by voters in Milwaukee and Green Bay. Two weeks before the election, Musk’s PAC, America PAC, offered $100 to people who signed a petition opposing “activist judges” or referred others to sign it. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has already sued in Brown County seeking to bar Musk from offering cash payments in the state, and Wisconsin’s Democratic attorney general previously sued to stop two check handovers but was rejected by state courts; Musk’s attorneys argued the giveaways were protected political speech.

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