Dear Mr. Musk, you are hereby on notice that your recent activities in support of Donald Trump could lead to significant personal liability, both civil and criminal.
HAAKE LAW GROUP
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
October 26, 2024
Elon Musk
CEO, Tesla Gigafactory
1 Tesla Road
Austin, Texas 78725
Via U.S. mail and X
You are aiding and abetting a convicted felon with a demonstrated history of inciting violence and civil unrest. The next time someone dies after Trump summons a violent mob and tells them to fight, or succumbs after Trump encourages hate rally attendees to “beat the hell” out of them, you could face liability as a co-defendant and/or co-conspirator.
If Trump is re-elected, he will enjoy expansive legal immunities you do not have. Even if he appoints you to regulate federal agencies you resent having to answer to, actions you undertake between now and January 6, 2025, are as a private citizen, not as a federal employee. An appointed position where you get to regulate your corporate regulators may not confer the tort immunities you hope for in any event.
You and your counsel may want to brush up on the following:
Election crimes
Federal law makes it a crime to offer money in an attempt to sway people to vote. 52 U.S.C. 10307(c) states that “Whoever knowingly or willfully … pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both…” The DOJ Election Crimes Manual specifies that an election bribe may be anything having monetary value, including cash and lottery chances, as the warning letter you just received from the Justice Department suggested.
When you announced that America PAC will be awarding $1 million every day until the election to a registered swing state voter who signs your petition on the 1 and 2 Amendment, you were clearly targeting Republican voters. (BTW, your schtick of “free speech absolutism” is asinine; Amendment 1 has never protected election fraud, consumer fraud, disinformation fraud of any type, threats, speech integral to criminal conduct, verbal assault, libel, defamation, incitement to criminality, conspiracy, or incitement to violence, but I digress.)
You may think your X activities are shielded from liability under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, but there are other applicable laws, including FEC regulations on in-kind campaign contributions. You paid $47 apiece to people who found others to sign a petition, which helped Trump target voters. You have spent in excess of $75 million on the pro-Trump America PAC. According to Open Secrets, you are also behind a disinformation initiative called Progress 2028, claiming ties to Kamala Harris, which is actually run by your own dark money network. “Building America’s Future,” the dark money group at the helm, reportedly received over $100 million in funding from you and other donors.
Aiding and abetting acts of violence
Your legal exposure for abetting acts of violence may be even greater. Disinformation on X since you bought it is well documented, and has helped fuel racist far-right riots and attacks. It’s only a matter of time before you’re sued for the violence and solicitation of violence you’re helping Trump promote. The law has long held that a person who aids and abets a crime is generally criminally liable to the same extent as the person who commits the crime.
You may protest that partisan acts of violence are too speculative to pin on you, or, alternatively, that you had no idea Trump would make good on his promises of retribution. But the civil law standard for ordinary negligence is simple: if you knew, or should have known, that someone (including Trump) would carry out Trump’s call for violence, you may be found liable for amplifying that call.
Even if you and Trump claim you didn’t “intend” for MAGA supporters to commit acts of violence, the Supreme Court recently held that recklessness in using violent rhetoric is sufficient to support liability for violence that ensues.
You also may think that manipulating algorithms, posting/liking/re-posting disinformation, or amplifying calls for violence against Democrats is not enough to trigger legal liability. But a defendant who shares in the criminal desire of the principal, and acts in some affirmative manner designed to aid the venture, is liable. The level of participation may be relatively slight once the defendant's knowledge of the unlawful purpose is established, and if you read any news outside the Fox bubble, you cannot lack knowledge that Trump intends to orchestrate more political violence.
In sum, Trump has been given a get out of jail card from the Supreme Court, but you have not, and Trump cannot pardon anyone for state crimes and judgements. Govern yourself accordingly.
Sincerely,
Sabrina Haake
Haake Law Group
Chicago, IL
Sabrina Haake is a columnist and 25 year litigator specializing in 1st and 14th Amendment defense. Her Substack, The Haake Take, has no paywall.
