A political motion committee backed by billionaire Elon Musk is being investigated by the Michigan Secretary of State's office as a part of its efforts to gather voter data.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, he said created And helped with financing the America PAC, which supports former President Donald Trump. Musk has a net value of over $225 billion, in line with Forbes.
The committee collected detailed voter information from residents of Michigan and other swing states after they submitted their personal information in a piece labeled “voter registration” on the PAC's website.
After clicking on the voter registration tab on America PAC's website, users in states like Michigan can provide a zipper code, address and phone number. People with a Michigan address are taken to a page that claims “Thank you” and asks users to “fill out the form below” to finish the voter registration process. As of Sunday afternoon, nonetheless, there was no additional form to fill out beneath the words “Thank you.”
“Every citizen should know exactly how their personal information is being used by PACs, especially when an organization claims to help people register to vote in Michigan or another state,” a spokeswoman for the Michigan Secretary of State's office said in a press release to CNBC.
“Although America PAC is a federal political action committee, the Department reviews its activities to determine whether there have been any violations of state law. We will refer potential violations to the Michigan Attorney General's Office as appropriate,” the spokeswoman added.
CNBC first reported on the group's efforts and that the web site does in a roundabout way register individuals with an address in a swing state to vote.
An individual with direct knowledge of the PAC's activities told CNBC that links on the web site had worked properly at one point for the reason that group registered with the Federal Election Commission in May – but acknowledged that was now not the case.
The group plans to launch a brand new website in the approaching weeks, this person said. The person declined to be named with the intention to speak freely about private matters.
A spokesman for America PAC declined to comment. Musk didn’t reply to emails searching for comment.
Jocelyn Bensona Democrat, is Michigan’s Secretary of State and the state’s top election official. She is a vocal opponent of election-related misinformation and has such statements of former President Donald Trump.
According to court records, the Republican National Committee has sued Benson and other Michigan Democrats no less than twice this 12 months.
Unclear whether laws were broken
It is unclear whether America PAC violated Michigan laws.
Barbara McQuade, who previously served as U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, was not convinced that the PAC necessarily violated state law. “I am not aware of any violation of law,” McQuade said in an email Sunday.
Mary Massaron, a partner at law firm Plunkett Cooney, expressed her concerns in an email to CNBC but didn’t say whether the PAC can have violated state law.
“It is very disturbing when a candidate or a PAC-funded project intentionally withholds information or a link to voter registration when someone asks for it because they might vote for the opposing candidates,” Massaron said in an email.
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