Musk gives $44 million more to back Trump

WASHINGTON — 

Elon Musk gave astir $44 cardinal to his pro-Donald Trump spending radical during the archetypal fractional of October, national disclosures showed connected Thursday, arsenic the billionaire stepped up his efforts for the Republican campaigner successful the November 5 election.

The contributions, disclosed successful a filing to the Federal Election Commission by Musk's America PAC group, travel aft a anterior study showed helium gave the radical astir $75 cardinal implicit 3 months betwixt July and September.

America PAC, which is focused connected turning retired voters successful intimately contested states that could determine the election, besides disclosed spending much than $47 cardinal successful the archetypal fractional of October.

The Trump run is broadly reliant connected extracurricular groups for canvassing voters, meaning the ace PAC founded by Musk — the world's richest idiosyncratic — plays an outsized relation successful what is expected to beryllium a razor-thin predetermination betwixt Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Separately, Trump's run reported spending much than $88 cardinal connected ads successful the archetypal fractional of the month, leaving him with $36 cardinal successful the slope for the last agelong of campaigning, according to a abstracted filing to the Federal Election Commission.

Trump's run raised $16 cardinal during the period.

The Harris campaign, which has outraised and outspent Trump's run successful caller months, reported spending much than $130 cardinal connected ads successful aboriginal October. Harris' run raised $97 cardinal during the archetypal fractional of the period and had $119 cardinal successful the slope connected October 16, according to its disclosure.

Another blimpish ace PAC, the Sentinel Action Fund, besides reported receiving $2.3 cardinal from Musk.

Musk's donations to America PAC propel him into the exclusive nine of Republican mega donors, a database that besides includes banking heir Timothy Mellon and casino billionaire Miriam Adelson.

As portion of its program to disturbance enactment for Trump, America PAC has been giving distant $1 cardinal per time to a randomly selected signatory of its online petition, which is lone unfastened to registered voters successful battleground states.

The Justice Department sent a missive to America PAC informing that the giveaways whitethorn interruption national law, CNN reported connected Wednesday.

The petition falls into a grey country of predetermination law, and ineligible experts are divided astir whether Musk could beryllium moving afoul of prohibitions connected paying radical to registry to vote.

Musk named 2 winners, 1 successful Michigan and 1 successful Wisconsin, successful posts connected societal media level X precocious Thursday pursuing the DOJ warning. America PAC has not responded to requests for remark astir the letter.