PHOENIX — One Phoenix man is a million dollars richer after he received a check for a million dollars on Sunday from the America Political Action Committee.
Tech billionaire and founder of America PAC, Elon Musk, pledged to give away a million dollars in the weeks leading into the general election to residents in the seven battleground states.
According to the America PAC's website, users who wanted to participate signed a petition in favor of the Constitution with an emphasis on free speech and the right to bear arms.
Joshua Offenhartz, one of the Arizona recipients of the giveaway, said as an attorney by trade signing the petition was a "no-brainer" since he values freedom of speech, freedom of the press, due process, equal protection under the law and other constitutional rights.
Offenhartz said the giveaway stated he could get $47 per referral and said he never expected to win the million dollars.
"You know, I'm a native Arizonan. I went to public school. I went to our state schools," Offenhartz said. "Stuff like this doesn't happen to anyone ever, and so the fact that it was happening to us was was just crazy, and it's still hard to believe."
The giveaway has been the subject of legal scrutiny particularly in Philadelphia where district attorney Larry Krasner said it violated state election laws., according to reporting by the Associated Press.
Jim Barton, an Arizona attorney, discussed some of the legal concerns associated with the giveaway.
"You can't pay someone to vote for a candidate [and] in this case, these people are getting a chance to win a million dollars if they pledge to vote for certain values," Barton said. "I don't know that's kind of walking up to the line. Do [participants] understand that to be a vote for a certain candidate or not?"
Chris Gober, America PAC's attorney, has stated publicly that recipients of the giveaway were "not chosen by chance" and are asked to serve as spokespersons.
Offenhartz said overall, he was in shock that he was selected as a recipient.
"I'm a private sector attorney by trade [and] I'm not affiliated with any campaign," Offenhartz said. "I'm not affiliated with any PAC."
Offenhartz said he was grateful to Elon Musk and the PAC for the $1,000,000 which he said was a financial relief for his family and "A blessing in of itself".
"I [would] love to give to Big Brothers and Big Sisters, Offenhartz said. "I'm sure we'll be reaching out to them to see if we can give some of this back since it was unexpectedly gifted to us."
12News reached out to America PAC's attorney for comment and the Arizona Attorney General.
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