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Do Elon Musk's $1M Giveaways Break Voting Laws?

Do Elon Musk's $1M Giveaways Break Voting Laws?

Your unbiased daily news brief

James Kratch
October 22, 2024

Good Tuesday morning. An airport in New Zealand is tired of long goodbyes, so it has instituted a three-minute cap on drop-off zone hugging. Have a great day!

In Today’s Brief

White House: New tour
Moldova: EU measure passes
Harris: Early voting lead
Disney: Board move
Iron Maiden: Ex-member dies

... and more

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Top Tips

1) Big bucks

The legality of Elon Musk's latest headline-grabbing stunt is very much in question.

What's happening: The billionaire businessman and supporter of former President Donald Trump has pledged to give $1M daily to a battleground state voter leading up to Election Day, adding to his tab after already donating $75M this cycle. The only criteria to be eligible: You must be a registered voter in one of the seven critical swing states and sign a petition launched by his super PAC that affirms support for the First and Second Amendments.
The reaction: It is a federal crime to pay, offer to pay or accept payment for voting or registering to vote, so the gambit has sparked outcry. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro called on law enforcement to investigate after Musk gave away $2M, complete with big novelty checks, at rallies in the state last weekend. A former Department of Justice official told CNN that Musk's actions are clearly illegal and "this is exactly what the statute was designed to criminalize."
Big picture: Musk's team has reportedly altered some language around the sweepstakes and now claims winners will become spokespeople for his America PAC, a seeming concession that the contest was operating in murky legal waters. But experts say Musk's swing states restriction is still proof enough that he is seeking to influence votes, even if prosecution is unlikely — just the latest criticism levied against the Tesla CEO due to his political activity.

2) Not amused

The world is getting a bit more serious about North Korea's latest gesture of solidarity with Russia.

Catch up: Ukraine recently accused North Korea of having troops on the front lines fighting on behalf of Russia. The Ukrainians claimed North Korean officers were killed in an airstrike and that Pyongyang is preparing to deploy 10K troops by the end of the month. South Korea has also said 1.5K North Korean special forces soldiers are already in Russia's Far East.
Pushing back: Seoul has called for the immediate withdrawal of the North Korean troops and said it plans to coordinate with NATO. The U.S. said North Korean involvement would be a "dangerous and highly concerning development" while the United Kingdom and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also spoke out. The Kremlin did not directly address the claims, but said Russia's military cooperation with North Korea is not directed toward third nations.
Big picture: North Korea has sent troops into other outside conflicts before, but never at this level. The contingent may not make much impact on the ground, but it speaks to the military and political support Moscow is giving Pyongyang following its joint defense agreement -- and renews fears that North Korea will provide significant weaponry to power Russia's war machine.

3) Stranger than fiction

A North Dakota woman received a 25-year prison sentence for killing her boyfriend over a fake inheritance and some badlegal analysis.

The news: Ina Kenoyer, 48, poisoned Steven Riley, 51, with antifreeze last year. She pleaded guilty in May and received a 50-year sentence last week with 25 years suspended, giving her the chance to get out after serving half the sentence.
Tragic scam: Kenoyer and Riley came to believe he was set to receive a $30M windfall; authorities now believe he was the victim of an online scam. Kenoyer killed him because she believed he was about to dump her and the length of their relationship would make her entitled to the money as a common-law wife -- even though North Dakota does not legally recognize such relationships.
The reaction: Riley's sister, Stephanie Gonzalez, said during sentencing: "My opinion of you from what you did to my brother, is that you are ironically an exact reflection of the home that you kept and lived in. Vile, filthy, disgusting, embarrassing, gross, full of feces and pure trash."

Quick Tips

U.S. News

The White House will begin offering expanded public tours that provide more access to the building, the first major change in decades. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden unveiled the new program; visitors will be able to enter the Diplomatic Reception Room and spend more time in areas already opened (More)
A teenage boy was in custody following a fatal mass shooting in Washington state. Five people were killed, including three children, at a home in Fall City, about 25 miles outside of Seattle; the incident is being investigated as a potential domestic violence issue (More)
An air tour helicopter crashed into a radio tower in Texas. Four people were killed in the accident in Houston on Sunday night; the tower collapsed and started a fire, but there were no injuries reported on the ground (More)

World News

Moldova's referendum to make European Union membership a constitutional goal succeeded after a late surge of yay votes, albeit barely. Early vote counts suggested the measure would fail amid Russian election meddling; the Eastern European nation already has EU candidate status (More)
Turkish cleric and political leader Fethullah Gulen died at 83. The spiritual leader was accused of plotting a failed 2016 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; he consistently denied the allegations and lived in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania for years (More)
India's domestic airline industry has been thrown into chaos by a wave of bomb threats. There have reportedly been 90 hoax calls in the last week leading to flight diversions, groundings and military escorts; authorities have not identified a source or motive (More)

Campaign News

Vice President Kamala Harris has a 2-1 lead over former President Trump among early voters so far, according to a USA Today poll. Trump has a 45% to 43% lead over Harris among Arab-American voters, according to a YouGov poll, despite being viewed as more supportive of Israel's government (More | More)
Trump's proposed policies would hasten the insolvency of Social Security's trust fund, according to a nonpartisan analysis. Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said tax cuts, tariffs and immigration crackdowns would cause a 33% across-the-board cut to all benefits by 2031 (More)
Trump further distanced himself from controversial North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, claiming he is "not familiar" with the state's gubernatorial race. The former president has continued to lead most polls there despite the fellow Republican's scandals and double-digit deficit against Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein (More)

Business & Markets

Major indexes closed mixed yesterday. The Dow Jones and S&P 500 cooled off after recent record highs (Dow -0.80%, Nasdaq +0.27%, S&P 500 -0.18%).
Former Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman will become Disney's board chairman next year, replacing Mark Packer. The entertainment giant said it will name a replacement for CEO Robert Iger in early 2026 to facilitate a transition before his contract expires at the end of that year (More)
BuyBuy Baby is shuttering its physical locations ... again. The bankrupt retailer tried to reopen some stores under a new parent company, but has dropped that revival and will focus on becoming an online-only business (More)

Entertainment & Sports

Former Iron Maiden lead singer Paul Di'Anno died at 66. His family did not announce a cause of death, but he had struggled with illness for several years; Di'Anno was with the band for its first two albums before being replaced by Bruce Dickinson (More)
The WNBA players union opted out of the league's collective bargaining agreement, aiming to capitalize on new media rights deals and growing interest. The current deal will now expire after the 2025 season; the move opens the door to a potential future work stoppage without a new agreement (More)
Nike renewed its uniform partnerships with the NBA and WNBA. The deal is expected to be "much bigger" than the previous $1B value; the NFL is already hearing bid offers as its pact with the sneaker giant moves toward its 2027 expiration (More)

Quick Hitters

Lucky Break: An Illinois man tried to buy a lottery ticket, but the machine malfunctioned and gave him the wrong game. He decided to roll with it ... and then won $9.2M.
Wild Stat: The average American consumes about 36K grams of sugar each year, according to a new study. That adds up to a terrifying 80 pounds. Great news right before Halloween!
Go Deep: Nuclear waste remains radioactive for thousands of years. This means massive underground storage facilitiesare needed to bury the toxic sludge.
History Lesson: A secret sculpture made for President John. F. Kennedy's grave vanished in the 1970s. It has finally been located decades later.
Life Hack: Put your feet up this weekend and keep your rake in the garage. A wildlife advocacy and conservation group is encouraging people to let the leaves be this fall to protect biodiversity.

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