An activist attorney known for defending illegal immigrant criminals is suing Elon Musk and his America PAC over a $1 million daily giveaway he claims was rigged against him.
“I had absolutely no idea that because I was left-leaning or supporting Kamala Harris that it would automatically disqualify me from being in the pool of potentially selected winners,” Grand Rapids attorney Robert Anthony Alvarez told Crain’s Grand Rapids Business.
Alvarez, with the Wyoming-based Avanti Law Group PLLC, filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan on Election Day, targeting America PAC’s petition supporting the Constitution.
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Musk, the world’s richest man and founder of Tesla and Space X, promised during the election to give away $1 million each day to one of the signers, prompting allegations from liberals that the effort may be against the law.
Musk and his PAC, which backed former President Donald Trump, faced a lawsuit in Pennsylvania over the giveaway in the days leading up to the election, but a judge allowed the contest to continue.
The petition was open to any registered voter in seven swing states who vowed to “support Free Speech & Right to Bear Arms.”
“The First and Second Amendments guarantee freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. By signing below, I am pledging my support for the First and Second Amendments,” the website read. “Our goal is to get 1 million registered voters in swing states to sign in support of the Constitution, especially freedom of speech and the right to bear arms. This program was exclusively open to registered voters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and North Carolina.”
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Alvarez’s lawsuit points to comments from Chris Young, treasurer of America PAC, who testified in the Pennsylvania case that winners were vetted to “feel out their personality, (and) make sure they were someone whose values aligned,” The Associated Press reports.
When Alvarez signed the online petition on Oct. 29, he “believed that though the odds may not have been favorable, there was still a chance that he could be randomly selected to win the $1 million award offered by Musk and his PAC,” according to court documents cited by WXMI.
“A closer look at the recipients of the $1 million prize show a clear pattern: that the selection not only is not random, but is a targeted process that eliminates anyone who is not a Republican or vocal supporter of Donald Trump,” wrote Alvarez, who is seeking $1 million for breach of contract, $1 million for alleged fraud, and other damages.
A closer look at Alvarez’s legal background also reveals a clear pattern of lawfare supporting Democratic politics and immigrants in Michigan illegally.
In 2010, Alvarez sued then Kent County Clerk Mary Hollinrake for not granting marriage licenses to illegal immigrants without Social Security numbers who could not prove they qualify through existing exemptions.
“This is contrary to the constitution of the United States and Michigan and discriminatory in that it has an effect of discriminating against a large group of the Hispanic community in Kent County,” Alvarez told MLive at the time.
Alvarez, dubbed one of West Michigan’s 25 Most Influential Latinos this month by Vive Michigan Magazine, “has successfully defended tens of thousands of immigrant workers,” including criminals in the country illegally.
During former President Donald Trump’s first term in 2017, Alvarez filed a pair of federal lawsuits against the Allegan and Kent County Sheriff’s Departments for cooperating with U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, WWMT reports.
Those cases centered on illegal immigrants who posted bond or had charges dismissed, but were nonetheless retained in custody on immigration detainers.
“In my 20 years of practice, I have represented more than 50,000 individual workers in individual, group and collective lawsuits in Michigan and across the country, helping them collect millions of dollars in damages,” Alvarez told Vive Michigan.