Elon Musk pro-Trump PAC eyed over personal data collection

The North Carolina Attorney General’s Office said Monday that it is eyeing a political action committee created by billionaire Elon Musk following a complaint to the state election board over the PAC’s collection of personal data while failing to help users register to vote as promised.

The new inquiry and a similar one announced Sunday by Michigan’s secretary of state’s office follow a report by CNBC that Musk’s America PAC was asking website users in battleground states for personal data — such as ZIP code, full address and a phone number — under the pretext of helping them register to vote without doing so.

In contrast, users of America PAC’s site in states that are not considered competitive in the 2024 election were directed to voter registration pages for their state.

The America PAC is supporting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in the 2024 election against Vice President Kamala Harris, the de facto Democratic nominee.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and owner of X, has said he created the PAC and helped fund it.

“Our office is aware of this issue and is looking into it,” said a spokeswoman for North Carolina AG Josh Stein on Monday about the PAC’s website

When asked for further details, she added, “We have not opened a formal investigation.”

Stein is the Democratic nominee for governor in North Carolina.

A spokeswoman for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on Sunday said the Democrat’s office is investigating America PAC to determine if the group has violated state law.

“Every citizen should know exactly how their personal information is being used by PACs, especially if an entity is claiming it will help people register to vote in Michigan or any other state,” Benson’s spokeswoman said that day.

Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia and Wisconsin were among the battleground states where users on America PAC’s website were not helped with registering to vote despite claims they would get such assistance.

Musk and a spokesman for the America PAC did not return requests for comment Monday.

As of Monday, a user with a North Carolina location who opened the America PAC website would not be able to click through to register to vote after submitting personal data despite pages indicating they could register on the site.

On Friday, shortly after CNBC’s first story on America PAC’s voter registration links was published, longtime political activist David Wheeler, sent a complaint about the PAC to the North Carolina Board of Elections.

Wheeler alleged America PAC has broken state laws, according to a copy of the complaint reviewed by CNBC.

“The America PAC is pretending to be running an online voter registration drive,” Wheeler wrote. “However, they are simply collecting data on voters and are fraudulently collecting and retaining confidential voter information against numerous NC law[s].”

Wheeler runs his own PAC, American Muckrakers, which has spent money opposing election bids of Republican candidates, including former Rep. Madison…