MADISON – The Wisconsin Elections Commission has referred two complaints to the Brown County District Attorney’s office after finding probable cause that tech billionaire Elon Musk violated state law by handing out checks to voters in the 2025 state Supreme Court election.
The bipartisan commission voted 5-1 during closed session in its July 10 meeting to pass a motion sending the complaints, filed by voters in Green Bay and Milwaukee, to Brown County District Attorney David Lasee, a spokeswoman confirmed.
The motion approved by the commission states that it “finds probable cause” Musk violated the state’s election bribery statute “by making a social media post that offered one million dollars to individuals who voted in the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court Election in order to induce them to vote in that election.”
The contents of the complaints are confidential under state law, WEC spokeswoman Emilee Miklas said. They are now with Lasee, who will determine whether to move forward with prosecution. Lasee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Under state law, he has 40 days to report back to the commission on any action he takes.
Three Wisconsin voters received $1 million checks from Musk in spring 2025 as part of his unsuccessful effort to elect conservative Brad Schimel to the state’s highest court. He also offered $100 payments to registered voters who signed petitions in the race.
Musk spent at least $20 million backing Schimel in a race that attracted the most money a judicial race has ever seen in the United States.
The Tesla CEO has faced a number of legal challenges in response, including a lawsuit filed last year by the liberal legal firm Law Forward on behalf of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign accusing Musk of violating the state’s laws against election bribery.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Dane County Circuit Court and has since been transferred to Brown County, seeks to bar Musk from executing such a plan again, and to declare Musk’s activities to be a public nuisance, among other relief.
Ahead of the 2025 spring election, Attorney General Josh Kaul filed a last-minute lawsuit seeking to block Musk from handing out the $1 million checks at an event in Green Bay. But the legal challenge was rejected at every level, including the state Supreme Court.
In a since-deleted post on X, Musk said he planned to hold the event two days before the election to hand out $1 million checks to voters “in appreciation for you taking the time to vote.”
But after election experts and Democrats raised questions about whether the offer violated the state’s election bribery laws, Musk deleted the post and said he would instead be handing over the checks to two people who would serve as spokespeople for his “Petition In Opposition To Activist Judges.” The new post also no longer said attendance would be limited “to those who have voted in the Supreme Court election,” as the original post had stated.
The effort by Kaul to block Musk reached the liberal-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court within a span of 48 hours and was rejected by the high court. Musk held the event in Green Bay and distributed two oversized checks for $1 million to attendees.
Susan Crawford, a liberal judge from Dane County, defeated Schimel by 10 percentage points.
Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin election officials refer 2 complaints against Elon Musk
Reporting by Jessie Opoien, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Jessie Opoien, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
