Elon Musk faces calls for a probe of potential election law violations

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro called on law enforcement to investigate Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX (SPACE) CEO Elon Musk for his promise to give away $1 million each day until Election Day for voters who sign an online petition to support the First and Second Amendments. Over the weekend, Musk handed checks to two individuals at separate Trump events.

Legal experts have noted that it is a federal crime to pay people intending to induce or reward them to cast a vote or to get registered. Brendan Fischer, a campaign finance lawyer, said the latest iteration of Musk’s giveaway approaches a legal boundary. That’s because the PAC is requiring registration as a prerequisite to become eligible for the $1 million check. “There would be few doubts about the legality if every Pennsylvania-based petition signer were eligible, but conditioning the payments on registration arguably violates the law,” Fischer told the Associated Press.

“I’m not the attorney general anymore of Pennsylvania, I’m the governor, but it does raise some serious questions,” noted Governor Shapiro about the giveaways. Earlier in the month, Elon Musk reportedly called Shapiro to talk about investing in Pennsylvania.

Shares of Tesla (TSLA) shed 1.4% in early trading on Monday and are down about 8.8% since the robotaxi event on October 10. Tesla (TSLA) is lined up to report Q3 earnings on October 23. Analysts expect the EV giant to disclose revenue of $25.7 billion and EPS of $0.60. Tesla (TSLA) already reported 462,890 deliveries for Q3 to fall short of the consensus estimate for a tally of 463,897 vehicles. The electric vehicle maker said it produced 469,796 vehicles during the quarter.