La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke announced Tuesday he will not pursue criminal election-bribery charges against Elon Musk for social media posts tied to Wisconsin’s 2025 Supreme Court race.
The case centered on two posts from March 27, 2025. In the first, Musk said he would give a talk in Wisconsin limited to people who had voted in the Supreme Court election and would “personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote.” About 12 hours later he deleted it and posted a clarification: entry was limited to those who signed a petition against activist judges, and the checks would go to two people selected as spokesmen for that petition.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission had voted 5-1 last month that the posts likely violated the state’s election-bribery statute and referred the complaints for possible prosecution. Brown County’s DA cited a conflict of interest, so Gruenke was appointed special prosecutor.
In an open letter, Gruenke said he does not believe he could convince a jury that Musk committed a crime. He noted the first post could be read as offering a free town-hall entry plus predetermined payments for spokesmen roles rather than a reward for voting. Critically, he wrote, “nobody was paid anything of value for voting or promising to vote,” and the second post quickly corrected the language.
Gruenke called it “a simple case of a poorly worded statement that was corrected and brought into compliance with the law.” Even if a jury saw the original post as a bribe, he said, the intent, the rapid correction, and the fact that no one received money for voting would make a conviction unlikely.
