Wisconsin prosecutor declines to charge Elon Musk over alleged election giveaway

Wisconsin’s La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke announced that Elon Musk will not face criminal charges for a July social-media post in which he said he would hand out two checks of $1 million each to voters. Gruenke argued that no voter actually received any value for voting and that a jury would be unlikely to convict, even considering the original wording. The case arose after the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission referred two complaints alleging Musk violated election law during the 2025 Supreme Court election, which the Democratic-backed candidate won.

Musk had spent at least $20 million supporting the Republican candidate, Brad Schimel, in a race that cost over $100 million overall. The attorney general had previously sued to block the giveaway, but state courts rejected that effort. Musk’s legal team had claimed the payments were protected speech, but the prosecutor said the corrected post brought the offer into compliance with the law. Musk’s representatives did not comment on the decision.