The Daily Populous Wednesday April 2nd, 2025 evening edition
Authored by jsonline.com and submitted by Zen1

Bice: Elon Musk group removes video from $1M winner after she says she got money to 'vote'

Just how nervous is billionaire Elon Musk about allegations that he may be violating the state's bribery statute by paying people to vote?

On Tuesday, Musk's super PAC, America PAC, pulled a video from X featuring $1 million giveaway winner Ekaterina Deistler in which she said she received the money, in part, to "vote." X is owned by the tech billionaire.

"My name’s Ekaterina Deistler," she said in a video posted Monday morning. "I did exactly what Elon Musk told everyone to do: sign the petition, refer friends and family, vote, and now I have a million dollars."

But the video was taken down yesterday, and America PAC posted a new video of Deistler on X on Tuesday afternoon.

"My name’s Ekaterina Deistler, and I'm from Green Bay, Wisconsin," she said in the new video. "I did exactly what Elon Musk told everyone to do: sign the petition, refer friends and family, and now I have a million dollars."

It's almost exactly the same, except the word "vote" has been removed. She is no longer saying she was paid, in part, to vote in the Supreme Court race.

Andrew Romeo, a spokesman for America PAC, declined to say why the first video was taken down. "I don't think we're going to comment on it," he said.

Jeff Mandell, general counsel of the progressive voting rights firm Law Forward, said it's clear what's going on.

“America PAC keeps changing its cover story, but the underlying reality is unchanged," Mandell said. "That this should happen more than once shouts everything you need to know about their intentions."

Elon Musk gives away two $1 million checks to Wisconsin voters Elon Musk held a rally to "get attention" for the Wisconsin judicial race. He gave away two $1 million checks to voters.

Musk, who has led President Donald Trump's efforts to slash the side of the federal government, and two groups tied to him have spent more than $20 million helping conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel. He squares off today against liberal Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford.

Last week, Musk offered $1 million to someone who signed his "Petition In Opposition To Activist Judges." A Green Bay resident ended up receiving that check.

Musk then promised to dole out two $1 million checks at his Sunday event in Green Bay "in appreciation for you taking the time to vote," in a since-deleted post on X. Several experts said these giveaways could be seen as an inducement to vote, making it a possible violation of the state’s bribery statutes.

Musk said in a new post that he would instead be handing over the checks to two people who would serve as spokespeople for his petition. He ended up giving $1 million each to Deistler and Nicholas Jacobs, the chairman of the Wisconsin College Republicans.

Diestler, who works as a graphic designer, does not appear to have worked in politics. She could not be reached for comment.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.

This story was updated to add a video.

AINonsense on April 2nd, 2025 at 12:28 UTC »

Man, these geniuses are really fucking dumb.

gradientz on April 2nd, 2025 at 12:26 UTC »

In the video, the recipient said that she received the check in exchange for signing the petition, referring friends and family, and for her vote.

Musk edited the video to delete the word "vote."

Ok-View-3258 on April 2nd, 2025 at 12:22 UTC »

If anyone has the video send it to all your representatives and encourage others to as well! He belongs in prison along Donald Trump. Elon Musk doesn’t want to be held accountable for his 40,000+ child labor and human rights violations! And don’t forget how we tax payers had to pay for sexual harassment lawsuits and settlements against him. He has many other lawsuits against him you can look up!

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000121465920007479/d826200px14a6g.htm

https://www.axios.com/2024/06/12/elon-musk-spacex-sexual-harassment-lawsuit

https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-paid-250000-to-a-flight-attendant-who-accused-elon-musk-of-sexual-misconduct-2022-5

Donald Trump owes many states money too that’s why he’s careful which city he travels to, he also owes many countries money and has ties with Russian mafia!

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/economy/2024/10/21/trump-us-rallies-leave-behind-unpaid-dues-again-and-again

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/trump-campaign-leaving-cities-hundreds-thousands-unpaid-bills/story?id=115415455

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2022/12/04/trump-owed-hidden-debt-while-in-office/

https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-reports/trumps-disappearing-15-million-south-korean-debt/

https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2018-01-18/trump-had-ties-to-russian-mob-figures-fusion-gps-founder-testifies