Elon Musk's Voter Data Mining Scheme Faces State Investigations
Plus, lots of action in the courts, Jenna Ellis cooperates, JD Vance's investment in Rumble, Clarence Thomas took another luxury trip, and more
Elon Musk’s Voter Data Mining Scheme Faces State Investigations
The very accusation Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen made against the League of Women Voters of “data mining” is exactly what Elon Musk’s super PAC is doing for Donald Trump. It’s interesting how the Republican Party’s accusations are always confessions.
On Friday, CNBC reported that the billionaire’s super PAC, a sketchily registered door-to-door “get out the vote” canvassing organization that’s boringly called the America PAC, is disguising its data collection scheme of voters in battleground states as a voter registration campaign. And it’s leveraging the assassination attempt on Donald Trump to promote its deceptive program.
As of Monday, the super PAC faces investigations in Michigan and North Carolina for fraud.
The Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office told CNBC that it is investigating Musk’s super PAC to determine if it violated state law. Benson’s office shared a statement with CNBC on Sunday, writing, “Every citizen should know exactly how their personal information is being used by PACs, especially if an entity is claiming it will help people register to vote in Michigan or any other state,” and that “the Department is reviewing their activities to determine if there have been any violations of state law.” They added that the office may refer potential violations to the Michigan Attorney General for further investigation.
On Monday, CNBC reported that political activist David Wheeler filed a complaint with the North Carolina Board of Elections (NCSBE), which the business outlet obtained. The complaint writes, “the America PAC is pretending to be running an online voter registration drive. However, they are simply collecting data on voters and are fraudulently collecting and retaining confidential voter information against numerous NC law[s].”
It’s worth noting that Wheeler operates the American Muckrakers PAC, which focuses on ousting Republican candidates, including former Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
Patrick Gannon, a spokesman for the NCSBE, told CNBC, “North Carolina law makes it a crime for someone to fail to submit a voter’s registration form if that person has told a voter that they would be submitting the voter’s registration form.” North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein’s office also said it is looking into the issue, but that it has not formally opened an investigation.
Another battleground state may also investigate the Silicon Valley billionaire-backed super PAC.
A spokesman for Pennsylvania Secretary of State Al Schmidt told CNBC in an email, that America PAC had not applied to use the commonwealth’s online voter registration interface. He explained that entities must “undergo rigorous security testing and agree to be bound by the Department’s Terms of Use” to connect with an Application Programming Interface (API) to securely submit voter registration applications.”
The debate over whether the Super PAC is Legal
A bulk of media coverage has centered around whether America PAC is legally able to coordinate with the Trump Campaign. While this is a legitimate question that addresses the broader operations of the super PAC, it’s not the appropriate question for this specific issue.
The key question is: Does a super PAC’s voter registration website that claims to register people to vote, but only collects data on individuals in battleground states violate the law? Subsequently, is this action by a super PAC that directly coordinates with a presidential candidate potentially fraud?
If the answer to both these questions is “no,” the law is wrong and needs to be changed. It’s a deceptive and predatory practice that exploits the lack of data privacy laws in the United States for political gain. Full stop.
The answer to the question the media has been asking is yes, the tech Billionaire-backed super PAC is legally able to directly coordinate with the Trump campaign. In March, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) issued an advisory opinion ruling that door-to-door canvassing is outside the scope of the ban on super PACS collaborating with campaigns on paid ads. This means that the Trump campaign can provide America PAC with text, talking points, and scripts to ensure consistent messaging.
According to FEC filings, America PAC has spent more than $21M on canvassing, digital media, text message services, and phone calls since June. The PAC’s website does not share that it operates on behalf of the Trump campaign, but it discloses in federal filings that it exists to benefit Trump or hurt the Democratic opponent.
How the data mining scheme works
In July, America PAC spent $800K on a series of digital ads that launched on Facebook, Instagram, and Google’s YouTube in mostly Trump’s fake elector scheme states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. In Pennsylvania alone, the super PAC spent more than $100K on digital ads.
The ads appear in other states, but the PAC’s website provides a much different experience for non-competitive state residents.
The ad shows a text exchange between a young man and his friend that begins with a message saying, “Hey you need to vote” along with a video of the attempted assassination of the GOP nominee. When the man on screen types, “This is out of control. How do I start?,” the friend responds, “Register to vote! It’s easy!” and sends a link to America PAC’s website.
For those in non-competitive states who were influenced by the ad, the website prompts them to enter an email address and ZIP code and then directs them to their state government voter registration site or back to the original sign-up section. For those in battleground states, the website sends them to a page that prompts them to enter their address, cell phone number, and age. Upon submitting this information, they are taken to a “Thank you” page.
It does not inform the person that they are not registered to vote, nor does it prompt them where to go to complete registration. It also does not state what the website plans to do with the personal information they submitted. But since it is a canvassing PAC, the person’s information will be used for future targeted efforts in battleground states, including fundraising and other emails.
Brendan Fischer, a deputy executive director at campaign finance watchdog Documented, told CNBC, “I think it is safe to assume that the voter data gathered through these digital appeals are going to inform America PAC’s canvassing and other political activities.” He added that the super PAC’s privacy policy states it can use people’s data on “other activities and/or fundraising campaigns.”
An unnamed person aware of America PAC’s operations told CNBC that the links on the website were functioning properly when it registered with the FEC in May and acknowledged that they are no longer working as intended. They also claimed that a new website will be launched in the coming weeks.
The nonprofit news website Michigan Advance reached out to the super PAC for comment about its data mining efforts and found that the “media inquiry” page on the website was not processing requests.
The technofascists behind America PAC
It should be no surprise that Musk’s inner circle of techofascists is funding his super PAC. Donors include:
Douglas Leone and Shaun Maguire, general partners at VC firm and SpaceX investor Sequoia Capital, who contributed $1M and $500K respectively
Joe Lonsdale, a co-founder of Peter Thiel’s Palantir and executive at the PAC, who contributed $1M in June
Keith Rabois, a managing director at VC firm Khosla Ventures, who contributed $1M
Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz of VC firm Andreessen Horowitz
Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, VC twins and crypto bros
Antonio Gracias, founder of Valor Equity Partners and a former board member of Tesla
More donors could be made public in America PAC’s third-quarter report on October 15. It’s still unclear how much money Musk has given to his super PAC.
It should also raise alarms that the owner of a communications platform is openly funding an effort to assist the GOP nominee and is directly coordinating with the candidate’s campaign. There is no stopping Musk from leveraging Twitter (which Musk rebranded as X) to give Trump an advantage as well.
Matthew Baum, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, said, “I’d say that it is somewhat concerning that the owner of one of the most important social media platforms is openly partisan (rooting for one of the candidates) and is using his platform ... as a vehicle for pursuing his openly partisan ends.”
Daniel Weiner, a director of the Brennan Center’s elections and government program, echoed this sentiment, stating, “There is a concern that Musk is weaponizing that platform to help his preferred candidate.”
The American Bar Association galvanizes lawyers against Donald Trump and Project 2025
The American Bar Association is building an infrastructure to protect U.S. Democracy and officially called lawyers to action at its annual meeting in Chicago. On Friday, August 2, the ABA’s Task Force for American Democracy officially launched during the Democracy Summit. Leading up to the event, the Task Force released an initial report and opening statement that outlined the current threats to the U.S. election system, as well as guidance for lawyers and bar associations to safeguard this November’s presidential election.
The summit was hosted by task force co-chairs Jeh Charles Johnson, former Secretary of Homeland Security, and J. Michael Luttig, former U.S. Circuit Judge for the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. The task force’s inaugural goal was to call lawyers to defend the U.S. Constitution against “a wide variety of serious threats, including that of rising authoritarianism.” Summit leaders warned that “for the first time in our history, we did not have a peaceful transition of power in our last presidential election” and stressed that lawyers are uniquely qualified to protect elections and the legal landscape from abuse.
While the task force urged lawyers to become actively engaged in protecting the November election, it also stated that a final report will be issued by early Summer 2025, which will include a set of specific recommendations for ongoing legal actions.
Senate unanimously passes bill to increase federal judgeships
On Thursday, the Senate unanimously passed the JUDGES Act (short for Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved), which is the first major piece of legislation for judgeships since the 1990 Judicial Improvements Act. The last time Congress created new federal judgeships was in 2003. If passed in the House, the bill will authorize 63 new permanent district court judgeships and 3 new temporary district court judgeships over the next decade. In March 2023, the Judicial Conference—the policymaking body for the federal courts—recommended that Congress create 66 new permanent district court judgeships and 2 permanent appeals court judgeships.
The bipartisan effort was led by Sens. Todd Young (R-IN) and Chris Coons (D-DE) to address judicial shortages and increasing caseloads in district courts nationwide. Young wrote in a press release, “For decades, Congress has failed to authorize new federal judgeships, creating a massive backlog of case filings for our nation’s federal judges–especially in Delaware, where there are only four active judgeships.” He noted that, as of March 31, 2023, there were 686,797 pending cases in federal district courts across the country, averaging 491 filings per judgeship over a 12-month period. Coons said on X, “This a huge step forward towards reducing massive caseloads for federal judges and ensuring equal access to justice for all Americans, no matter where they live.”
9th Circuit blocks Arizona law requiring proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote
On Thursday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed itself, temporarily blocking a 2022 voter suppression law that required Arizonans to show proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote. In a 19-page order, the appeals court granted the motion filed by voting rights groups to reconsider the panel’s partial stay pending appeal. A panel on the 9th Circuit paused part of the lower court’s order blocking the laws passed by Arizona’s GOP-controlled legislature.
As the case proceeds in the 9th Circuit, the court will also consider other voter suppression laws that allow for voter roll purges and cancellations of voter registrations. The law stipulates that county recorders reviewing proof of U.S. citizenship can consider voter registrants as non-U.S. citizens if they find they did not provide “satisfactory evidence” of U.S. citizenship within 35 days of notification and can cancel their voter registration.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ billionaire benefactor sponsored another undisclosed international trip for the judge and his wife
One day after Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch threatened President Joe Biden’s call on the legislative branch to check the high court, a letter written by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) to Clarence Thomas’ billionaire benefactor Harlan Crow reveals yet another undisclosed luxury international trip. On Sunday, Gorsuch described the importance of an independent judiciary in a Fox News interview, adding, “And so I just say, be careful” when asked about the president’s Supreme Court reform proposal. On Monday, Wyden informed Crow’s lawyer that the Senate Finance Committee obtained international flight records from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Those records revealed that Thomas and his wife, Ginni, took a round-trip flight on November 19, 2010 from Hawaii to New Zealand on Crow's private jet, which was not reported on Thomas’ financial disclosure forms.
Wyden wrote, “To date, Justice Thomas has never disclosed this private jet travel on any financial disclosure forms, even though Justice Thomas has amended disclosures to reflect other international travel on Mr. Crow’s private jet.” He added, “I am deeply concerned that Mr. Crow may have been showering a public official with extravagant gifts, then writing off those gifts to lower his tax bill,” making it clear that passing off such “trips involving personal hospitality as business expenses is a run of the mill tax scam.” He ended the letter requesting information about Crow’s finances between 2010 and 2022, especially his use of his private jet and superyacht by August 26.
SCOTUS denies Missouri’s request to block Trump’s NY sentencing and gag order
On Monday, the Supreme Court rejected Missouri’s motion to block Trump’s sentencing and gag order in the GOP nominee’s New York criminal case. Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Federalist Society member, went rogue, seeking permission from SCOTUS to file an original appeal, which is traditionally used in disputes between states over bordering issues such as water rights and boundaries. Four GOP-led states—Alaska, Florida, Iowa, and Montana—supported Missouri's motion, which alleged that New York prosecutors are using its criminal process to interfere with the election and that Missouri voter’s rights to hear from Donald Trump are being violated because of the gag order. In an unsigned two-sentence order, the court denied the motion, but two corrupt justices—Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito—noted they would have granted leave to file the bill of complaint.
Former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis cooperating with Arizona prosecutors
On Monday, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced in a press release that former Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis has agreed to cooperate with state prosecutors. She added that, in exchange for Ellis’ cooperation in the state election subversion case, the 9 felony charges against her will be dropped. As part of the cooperation agreement, which Ellis signed Monday morning, Ellis will testify against the remaining co-defendants.
JD Vance and his VC firm are lead investors of far-right platform Rumble
Donald Trump’s Vice Presidential running mate JD Vance is a major investor in the far-right and Russian propaganda video platform, Rumble. It’s no surprise then that Rumble’s stock went up 17 percent after Trump officially announced Vance as his running mate, or that Vance personally financially benefited from being on Trump’s VP shortlist in the first place.
While Vance ran for the Senate, financial disclosures revealed that he made a personal investment in the platform valued between $100K-$250K. But his venture capital firm, Narya Capital, also became a lead investor in Rumble in May 2021, which gave the firm a seat on the company’s board. In its 2023 filing, Narya indicated it would sell more than 3M shares of its 7M+ total shares. But it’s still unclear if the firm followed through on it. Vance filed an extension for his 2023 financial disclosures in April. It’s also worth noting that Donald Trump Jr. signed a seven-figure podcast deal with Rumble last year and lobbied his father to choose Vance as his running mate.
5th Circuit Court blocks DOT “junk fee” rule requiring airlines to disclose them
Last week, a 3-judge panel on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked the Department of Transportation’s new “junk fee” rule requiring airlines to disclose fees upfront as it reviews the regulatory authority of the department. In an 8-page order, the panel found that the rule, which went into effect on July 1, “likely exceeds DOT’s authority and will irreparably harm airlines.” It also granted the airline industry’s request to expedite its petition for review.
This ruling stems from the lawsuit filed in May by Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, JetBlue, and United Airlines, as well as industry lobbying groups Airlines for America and the International Air Transport Association. The airlines argued the rule would require them to “spend millions” to re-engineer their websites, which would divert financial resources from other projects. This refers to the DOT’s October 30 deadline to disclose fees to third-party ticket agents and on airline websites by April 30, 2025. It’s worth noting that the department found that customers were overpaying $543M in fees annually. It also reported in April that major U.S. carriers increased fees in 2024 for checked baggage even though they profited $7.1B in 2023 and $6.8B in 2022 from baggage fees.
Trump’s former OMB director and Project 2025 mastermind Russell Vought will likely be tapped as the GOP nominee’s Chief of Staff
Despite Trump’s efforts to distance himself from Project 2025, it appears he plans to appoint the leader of the agenda as a crucial cabinet member in his next administration. Over the weekend, the Associated Press reported that Russell Vought, the chief architect of Project 2025 and Trump’s former White House Office of Management and Budget, is likely to be appointed as Trump’s Chief of Staff if he wins the election. To prepare for this position, Vought has been reportedly drafting a secret “180-Day Transition Playbook” to accelerate the implementation of Project 2025.
After leaving the White House, Vought, a proud Christian Nationalist, founded a far-right think tank called the Center for Renewing America, which has been at the heart of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. (Vought previously worked for the Heritage Foundation and is familiar with the organization’s modus operandi.) The organization’s mission is to be “the tip of the America First spear” and “to renew a consensus that America is a nation under God.” Vought is explicit in his belief that government should run as an autocracy. In interviews and in Project 2025, Vought has made his position clear that no executive branch department or agency, including the Justice Department, should operate outside the president’s authority.