Federal judge orders Musk back to Pennsylvania court for 'illegal lottery' lawsuit

Judge Angelo Foglietta on Friday ordered the hearing to take place Monday at 10 a.m., in accordance with Krasner's request that the matter be heard "immediately."

It is unclear whether Musk, whose attorneys filed a motion Friday evening to quash a mandatory attendance provision in the lawsuit, will show up to court.

The D.A.'s office has described the giveaways as an "illegal lottery" aimed at influencing the results of a presidential election and a violation of Pennsylvania law.

Musk's attorneys had requested the case be heard in federal court, delaying an original hearing scheduled for Thursday. 

Attorneys for the Tesla founder and Trump supporter also used this as a pretext for his failure to show up at an originally scheduled court date in Philadelphia.

The push to have a federal court oversee the case "is a stunt to obtain a procedural advantage," he said, and "run out the clock" until the election.

Until the hearing occurs, Musk and the PAC are likely free to continue their daily giveaways.

"Brazenly, they have done so every day since the filing of the Complaint - including this morning, the day of the scheduled hearing," Krasner said Thursday in filing the emergency request.

The legal battle comes as Musk's America PAC has awarded $1 million prizes to 14 people to date - which it said it plans to do through Election Day.

Musk had billed the $1 million daily giveaways as an effort to increase voter registration across seven major swing states, and claimed its daily winners are selected at "random." 

But the district attorney's office contested this, noting: "Though Musk says that a winner's selection is 'random,' that appears false because multiple winners that have been selected are individuals who have shown up at Trump rallies in Pennsylvania."

The lawsuit notes that all lotteries in Pennsylvania are required to be "operated and administered by the state." Musk's daily giveaways, the suit claims, run afoul of that law.