Elon Musk gives away money (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
The Department of Justice violated its own internal policies when it sent a letter—which ended up in the New York Times—warning Elon Musk's political action committee against its $1 million voter registration giveaway in swing states, the chairman of the Federal Election Commission alleges in a letter obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
On Oct. 23, less than two weeks before the presidential election, the Times reported that the DOJ's Public Integrity Section sent a "warning letter" to America PAC, Musk's political group, that a $1 million giveaway for newly registered voters might violate the law. Both the letter and the leak appear to violate DOJ policies, FEC chairman Sean Cooksey argued in a letter to DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz.
Cooksey alleges that the DOJ's letter to America PAC was meant to influence the outcome of the November election. In his letter, Cooksey writes that the DOJ "violated the Justice Manual's prohibition against impermissible considerations for Department actions," which include "timing investigative steps or criminal charges, for the purpose of affecting any election."
Cooksey also questions whether the DOJ even had the right to send the letter, which never plainly states that Musk's giveaway violated the law. "It is not apparent that the Department allows for its attorneys to issue 'warning letters' in this form," Cooksey wrote.
Musk hasn't been charged by the DOJ for any wrongdoing related to America PAC, which supported President-elect Donald Trump's campaign. There's no indication that the DOJ is actively investigating Musk's PAC, either. Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner (D.) sued the group last month and claimed the giveaway violated state election law. A state judge on November 4 allowed America PAC's giveaway to proceed, stating that the scheme was not an "illegal lottery."
"The fact that President Trump overcame this interference and prevailed in the election does not remove the Department's responsibility to enforce the law against bad actors after the fact," Cooksey wrote. "This misuse of government power against President Trump's campaign—so similar to the Department's abuses during Watergate—is the reason why the Office of Professional Responsibility and the Federal Election Commission were created in the first place."
The DOJ's conduct has been a subject of Republican criticism since President Joe Biden took office. Republicans allege—citing the DOJ's deferential treatment towards Hunter Biden, its cases against Trump, and its posture towards conservatives more broadly—that the agency has been politicized.
Trump and his allies have promised reforms at the DOJ. Those reforms may include firing career prosecutors who are deemed too liberal or carry an agenda contrary to the attorney general's.
Trump transition lawyer Mark Paoletta said Wednesday that career attorneys at DOJ repeatedly sabotaged cases with which they disagreed, including resisting an investigation into then-New York governor Andrew Cuomo's handling of nursing home patients during the coronavirus pandemic.
Paoletta warned that "those DOJ career staff who refuse to implement in good faith President Trump's agenda should leave. Those who resist by trying to sabotage the duly-elected President's agenda should be terminated for failing to do their jobs."
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