PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — Elon Musk’s legal team successfully delayed a possible court ruling on his $1 million lottery-style gift.

Larry Krasner, Philadelphia District Attorney filed a complaint on the contest Monday in state court, but Wednesday evening, lawyers for Musk and his America PAC filed documents in federal court to move the case there, arguing that federal law, not state law, was at the heart of the case.

John Summers, an attorney representing Krasner, called the development “cowardly and irresponsible” during a brief hearing in state court Thursday morning.

Matthew Haverstick, a lawyer representing Musk and the super PAC, defended the merits of their actions. He said their dismissal notice was properly filed.

The filing in federal court automatically blocked any immediate action in state court, where Judge Angelo Foglietta had already scheduled a hearing for Thursday. Foglietta continued with the hearing but acknowledged that the federal filing deprived him of jurisdiction to hear arguments.

The timing of any further action was uncertain midday Thursday. In federal court, the case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Jerry Pappert, appointed by former President Barack Obama, and the federal docket did not list a decision or a scheduled hearing.

Krasner sought to move quickly on the case, arguing that Musk and his super PAC organize an illegal lottery This violates state law, but the end of the contest is fast approaching, with the final million-dollar-a-day winner expected Tuesday.

America PAC said he has awarded million-dollar prizes to 13 people over the past two weeks. To be eligible to win, voters must be registered to vote in one of the seven battleground states and sign a petition pledging support for the First and Second Amendments.

Summers said he plans to argue in federal court to have the case moved to state court.

“We will go to federal court and address the issues there and seek to have the case moved to state court,” he told reporters outside the state courtroom Thursday. State. He said it was a case “that involves questions of state law.”

Summers said the decision by Musk’s lawyers, which caused the delay, coincided with Mischief Night, an Oct. 30 holiday recognized in Mid-Atlantic States and elsewhere.

Summers noted that Musk did not appear in person at the hearing.

“This morning, DA Krasner was here to testify. Elon Musk didn’t show up,” he said.

Musk’s private jet was in Austin, Texas, early Thursday morning, according to the Elon Jet Account on Bluesky which publishes aggregated flight data.

During Thursday’s brief hearing, Summers highlighted Musk’s retweet of an X-rated post calling Foglietta a “left-wing judge,” which the judge said he dismissed as “irrelevant.”

Foglietta said he would not go into the implications of Musk’s failure to appear in person at the hearing unless and until a federal judge sends the case back to a US court. State. Musk’s lawyers attended the hearing.

Haverstick dismissed his client’s absence, saying Musk is a busy man who can’t “materialize” on 12 hours’ notice and that he was only added as a defendant in the case as a “publicity stunt”.

Summers pushed back on the idea that Musk was too busy to appear, citing Musk’s wealth, resources and ownership of SpaceX — prompting Foglietta to interrupt.

“He’s not going to take a rocket and land on the building,” the judge said. “Let’s be serious.”

“If anyone could land a rocket in Philadelphia, it would be Elon Musk,” Summers responded.

Summers also disputed the idea that the prosecutor sued Musk for a publicity stunt, saying nothing in this case was a publicity stunt other than Musk’s “bizarre” rallies.

Summers also questioned whether the America PAC paid lottery winners, saying there was no sign of payments in the super PAC’s expense reports. The super PAC said on X that it had paid out money to at least the initial winners.

Haverstick declined to respond to most of Summers’ comments during the hearing, saying Summers was talking about matters that were not at issue.

Krasner’s lawsuit, by focusing on regulation of lotteries in Pennsylvania, sidestepped the question of whether the $1 million donation violates laws prohibiting vote buying or paying people to register on the electoral lists. The US Department of Justice and various legal experts had warned that Musk’s competition could violate these election laws.