GREEN BAY (WLUK) — A special prosecutor will review an election bribery complaint against Elon Musk in Brown County.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission last month referred two complaints to the Brown County district attorney’s office over $1 million checks Musk handed out during the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
On Friday, Brown County District Attorney David Lasee announced his office has a conflict of interest in the case and La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke will serve as special prosecutor.
Media Release – Musk, Elon RPDF preview
Brown County District Attorney’s Office announcement of conflict of interest in election complaint against Elon Musk.
Musk, the founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla, was deeply involved in the effort to flip majority control of the highest court in battleground Wisconsin.
The tech titan and groups he supported spent at least $20 million on the candidate backed by Republicans, Brad Schimel. However, Schimel lost by 10 percentage points to Democratic-backed candidate Susan Crawford.
The complaints, which are confidential under state law, were brought by voters in Milwaukee and Green Bay, which is in Brown County. Musk handed out checks at a rally there just days before the election.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission, consisting of three Democrats and three Republicans, voted 5-1 in closed session July 9 to refer the complaints to the Brown County district attorney, the commission’s spokesperson Emilee Miklas said.
Three Wisconsin voters received checks from Musk, including two who got them in person at the Green Bay rally. Two weeks before the election, Musk’s political action committee, America PAC, offered $100 to voters who signed a petition in opposition to “activist judges,” or referred someone to sign it.
Crawford’s win kept liberals in control of the state Supreme Court, and their majority grew to 5-2 after Democratic-backed candidate Chris Taylor’s victory this year.
Musk’s spending on the 2025 race has already resulted in one lawsuit filed by a government watchdog group, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, which seeks to prohibit him from ever again offering cash payments in the state.
That lawsuit is pending in Brown County. It alleges that Musk and two groups he funds violated prohibitions on vote bribery and unauthorized lotteries and that his actions were an unlawful conspiracy and public nuisance.
