Wisconsin's election police want to criminalize Elon Musk for handing out $1 million checks to voters, referring two complaints to prosecutors even after state courts already cleared the payments.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission voted 5-1 last week to find probable cause that Musk violated state election bribery law by offering money to people who voted in the 2025 Supreme Court race. The referral now sits with Brown County District Attorney David Lasee, a Republican, who has 40 days to decide whether to bring criminal charges. For ordinary Americans, the message from the bipartisan board is clear: engage voters with your own money, and the state machinery will come after you.
Three voters received $1 million checks from Musk during the spring 2025 campaign, part of his at least $20 million effort to elect conservative Brad Schimel. Schimel lost by 10 points to Democrat-backed Susan Crawford in the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history — over $100 million spent total.
The complaints, filed by voters in Green Bay and Milwaukee, target a social media post Musk made offering $1 million to individuals who voted in the election "in order to induce them to vote in that election," according to the commission's motion.
But there's context the commission and the press aren't eager to highlight. After election experts and Democrats raised concerns about the original post — which said the Green Bay event was limited to those who had voted — Musk deleted it and revised the offer, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reported. The new post said the checks would go to spokespeople for his "Petition In Opposition To Activist Judges" and removed the voting requirement for attendance.
Wisconsin's Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul already tried to block the payments with a last-minute lawsuit. The courts rejected him at every level, including the state Supreme Court, which ruled against Kaul within 48 hours.
Musk's attorneys argued the payments were protected free speech under both the Wisconsin and U.S. constitutions, intended to build a grassroots movement against activist judges, "not to expressly advocate for or against any candidate."
A separate lawsuit from the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, represented by liberal firm Law Forward, is pending in Brown County and seeks to permanently bar Musk from offering cash payments in the state, alleging violations of bribery and lottery prohibitions and calling the effort a public nuisance.
The commission consists of three Democrats and three Republicans. The 5-1 closed-session vote means at least two Republicans joined Democrats in finding probable cause. Commission spokesperson Emilee Miklas confirmed the vote.
CNN framed the referral as Musk "likely" breaking the law; the Green Bay Press-Gazette more precisely reported the commission "found probable cause" — a lower bar that triggers prosecutorial review, not a verdict.
Musk changed his post to address the bribery concerns. The courts already said the payments could proceed. Now a bipartisan board wants a Republican prosecutor to criminalize the same conduct after the fact. The question isn't whether Musk's tactics were flashy — it's whether engaging voters with your own money is a crime or a constitutionally protected act of speech.
