Elon Musk failed to show up to a required court appearance in a Philadelphia case challenging his $1m-a-day sweepstakes. His absence from the hearing risks him being held in contempt of court.
On Wednesday, the judge had ordered all parties to attend the Thursday-morning hearing. Musk’s attorneys had attempted to shift the suit from Pennsylvania state court to federal court in a filing late on Wednesday. The lawyers argued that state court was not the proper venue and that the Philadelphia district attorney was engaging in thinly veiled electioneering.
“Rather, although disguised as state law claims, the Complaint’s focus is to prevent Defendants’ purported ‘interference’ with the forthcoming Federal Presidential Election by any means,” the Tesla CEO’s attorneys wrote.