AG Kaul sues to stop Elon Musk's $1 million prize to Wisconsin voters

MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent Elon Musk from sending $1 million checks to Wisconsin voters ahead of the April 1st election.

In a now-deleted post on "X," Musk said he would hold an event on Sunday to hand out two, $1 million checks, to Wisconsin voters on Sunday in "appreciation for taking time to vote."

The post caught the attention of many legal experts, including Kaul, who've raised concerns these payments could be in violation of the state's election bribery laws.

Later this afternoon, Musk deleted his original tweet and issued a correction saying he'd instead hand out checks to two people who have signed his petition "in opposition to activist judges.":

This comes after Musk awarded a Green Bay man $1 million on Thursday for signing his petition.

Musk, a top advisor to President Donald Trump, has been heavily invested in the state Supreme Court contest. Groups affiliated with Musk have spent more than $20 million dollars backing the conservative candidate Brad Schimel while criticizing his opponent, Susan Crawford.

Kaul said his office was made aware of Musk's intent to distribute additional payments to voters, triggering legal action.

“The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that elections in Wisconsin are safe, secure, free, and fair. We are aware of the offer recently posted by Elon Musk to award a million dollars to two people at an event in Wisconsin this weekend," Kaul said in a statement.

"Based on our understanding of applicable Wisconsin law, we intend to take legal action today to seek a court order to stop this from happening."

Kaul's lawsuit was randomly assigned to Crawford's courtroom serving as a Dane County judge. Crawford's campaign said she immediately notified the court and recused herself. A judge in Columbia County will now oversee the legal challenge.

Earlier in the day, a liberal law firm Law Forward sent Kaul and Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern a letter urging them to investigate Musk's offer.

"We further urge your office to take all necessary action to prevent any illegal activity from improperly influencing Wisconsin voters," the group wrote in the letter.

A spokesman for Crawfords campaign called Musk's payments a "last-minute desperate distraction."

"Wisconsinites don’t want a billionaire like Musk telling them who to vote for, and on Tuesday, voters should reject Musk’s lackey Brad Schimel," said Derrick Honeyman, a spokesman for Crawford.