Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, applauds as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., July 24, 2024.
Craig Hudson | Reuters
A political action committee backed by billionaire Elon Musk is being investigated by the Michigan Secretary of State's office as part of its efforts to collect voter data.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has said he founded and co-funded the America PAC, which supports former President Donald Trump. Musk has a net worth of over $225 billion, according to Forbes.
The committee collected detailed voter information from residents of Michigan and other swing states after they submitted their personal information in a section 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 zip code, address and phone number. People with a Michigan address are directed to a page that says “Thank you” and asks users to “fill out the form below” to complete the voter registration process. As of Sunday afternoon, however, 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 statement 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 website does not directly register people with an address in a swing state to vote.
A person with direct knowledge of the PAC's activities told CNBC that links on the website had worked properly at one point since the group registered with the Federal Election Commission in May – but acknowledged that was no longer the case.
The group plans to launch a new website in the coming weeks, this person said. The person declined to be named in order to speak freely about private matters.
A spokesman for America PAC declined to comment. Musk did not respond to emails seeking comment.
Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, is Michigan's secretary of state and the state's chief elections official. She has been a vocal opponent of election-related misinformation and has spoken out against such statements by former President Donald Trump.
According to court records, the Republican National Committee has sued Benson and other Michigan Democrats at least twice this year.
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 did not say whether the PAC may 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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