Today in Politics, Bulletin 100. 3/28/25

… Elon Musk likely committed a felony in Wisconsin with his illegal vote buying scheme, which he continues to try and claim is just about encouraging people to sign a “petition.” It is the same playbook he used in the 2024 election, when he caught Democrats flatfooted with the scheme and nothing was done to stop it. This time, Dems were ready.

… Musk offered people $100 if they will sign his petition to “stop activist judges”. Then, after they show proof they have voted, their name is entered in a supposed lottery where Musk hands out $1 million prizes at random intervals. But he claims that the $1 million is being paid to them not as a solicitation to vote, which would be a felony, but for serving as a “spokesman” for one day.

… Except this time, Musk forgot to claim the “spokesman” scam when he put out his initial solicitation to his 220+ million followers: “On Sunday night, I will give a talk in Wisconsin. Entrance is limited to those who have voted in the Supreme Court election. I will also personally hand over two checks for a million dollars each in appreciation for you taking the time to vote. This is super important.”

… Many hours later, after he was called out on it by officials in Wisconsin accusing him of committing a felony, Musk deleted the original tweet and reposted it with his scam “spokesman” language: “To clarify a previous post .. I will hand over checks for a million dollars to 2 people to be spokesmen for the petition.”

… WI Dem Party Chair Ben Wikler to MeidasTouch: “Musk deleted that tweet because he knows that that tweet was a crime, and it's still a crime in Wisconsin law. It is plain as day. You cannot promise something of value in order to induce someone to vote or refrain from voting. This is a WI statute, and it's a felony to cross that line. Musk should be brought to justice for his illegal attempt to buy votes for Brad Schimel.”

… Dem WI Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford’s spokesperson Derrick Honeyman: "It's corrupt, it's extreme, and it's disgraceful to our state and judiciary."

… Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, to Fox6 Milwaukee: "Whether or not Wisconsinites will believe this is legitimate or not probably won’t be settled until after the election. But this not what a WI Supreme Court election ought to be decided on. Races for the high court are supposed to be on judicial temperament and impartiality, not huge amounts of money for partisan purposes."

… WI AG Josh Kaul: “The Wisconsin Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that elections in WI are safe, secure, free, and fair. We are aware of the offer recently posted by Elon Musk to award a million dollars to two people at an event in WI this weekend. Based on our understanding of applicable WI law, we intend to take legal action today to seek a court order to stop this from happening.”

… He should be arrested for the one that already happened. He awarded a check for a million a few days ago.

… Wikler to Mother Jones: “Musk has now plowed more money into this Supreme Court race than any donor ever has in any Wisconsin judicial election. The WI Supreme Court race is the first referendum on Musk-ism. So many Democrats feel this deep fear combined with an incandescent fury at what’s happening to the country, and they want an outlet that allows them to fight back. This Supreme Court race, for Wisconsinites and for Dems everywhere who might be able to donate or volunteer, gives people who believe in democracy a chance to defeat the oligarchs who are trying to end democracy for good.”

… “At this point, there is more funding on the right than there is for supporting Susan Crawford. But we can see in our own polling and testing that there’s just a tidal wave of fury at Musk and Trump for what they’re doing to the country. The grassroots does not want conciliation with the people who are punching them in the face. They want to fight back. And if we win, we’ll be able to show the whole country that there’s a path for Democrats to fight back.”

… Susan Knower, chair of the Sauk County Democrats: “We have to make sure when we’re talking to people we connect Elon Musk with Brad Schimel and with Donald Trump.”

… Reuters reported that Russia is offering to give a nuclear power plant to Musk for his mission to colonize Mars. Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund: "Russia can offer a small-sized nuclear power plant for a mission to Mars and other advanced technological capabilities.” He said Musk was a “great visionary” and he expects to meet with him soon to go over the details.

… Dmitriev is also part of Russia’s negotiating team with the US on the war in Ukraine. Go figure.

… Trump was asked today whey he wasn’t doing anything to stop the daily drone attacks by the Russia against Ukrainian civilians: “Well, we’re gonna see what happens with that. I’m getting reports on that. I have that high on my list of things to watch.”

… CBS reported that Putin is now proposing to put Ukraine under the governance of the UN so he can get rid of Zelensky: "Under the auspices of the UN, with the US, even with European countries and, of course, with our partners and friends, we could discuss the possibility of introduction of temporary governance in Ukraine. Then we could hold democratic elections, to bring to power a viable govt that enjoys the trust of the people, and then begin negotiations with them on a peace treaty."

… WaPo reported the program that tracks the roughly 20,000 Ukrainian children who were kidnapped by Russia is only being allowed to operate in the US for 6 more weeks just to give them time to transfer all their work to the EU before it is disbanded for good.

… JD Vance was at the US military base in northern Greenland today, where he trashed Denmark and continued to pressure Greenlanders to seek independence to become part of the US: “Denmark has not kept pace in devoting the resources necessary to keep this base, our troops, and to keep the people of Greenland safe from aggressive incursions. We have no other option. We need to take a significant position in Greenland to keep the people here safe and to keep our own country safe.”

… Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE): “Let’s stop the stupid Greenland talk. We look dumb all over the world and we sound like Russia. Greenland and Denmark are our allies. Let’s treat our allies with decency and save the bullying for dictators who invade their neighbors.”

… Vladimir Putin today: “We are talking about serious plans on the American side with regard to Greenland.”

… The first major poll on the Signal scandal is out, and 74% of Americans say the way it was handled by the Trump admin was a very (53%) or somewhat (21%) serious problem, per YouGov.

… AP’s Pentagon Correspondent Tara Copp: “Pete Hegseth’s younger brother is serving in a key position inside the Pentagon as a DHS liaison and senior adviser. The high-profile job has meant meetings with a UFC fighting champion, a trip to Guantanamo Bay and, right now, traveling on the Pentagon’s 747 aircraft as Hegseth makes his first trip as defense secretary to the Indo-Pacific.”

… “Based on Phil Hegseth’s publicly available resume, his past experience includes founding his own podcast production company, Embassy and Third, and working on social media and podcasts at The Hudson Institute.”

… Deputy Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson responded in a statement: “Phil Hegseth, one of a number of talented DHS liaisons to DOD, is conducting touch points with U.S. Coast Guard officials on the Secretary’s Indo-Pacific trip.”

Saturdays are off days for the Bulletin, as I put out a full recap covering the entire weekend on Sunday night. Tomorrow is going to be a snow day for us here in Maine - hopefully last of the year. We have a pre-planned overnight trip up the central Maine coast to Wiscasset-Rockport-Camden, so should be some nice scenery with the snow. If you missed yesterday’s Bulletin, you can read it here.

… NYT: “Nikola Motors founder Trevor Milton, just pardoned by Trump for fraud, donated over $2 million to Republicans between Sept and Dec of last year, per FEC records. His largest was $920K to the Trump 47 PAC. He'd never previously made political donations.

… Milton was convicted in 2022 on 3 counts of fraud and sentenced to 4 years in prison and $169 million in restitution and fines. “Two weeks ago prosecutors recommended Milton pay $676M in restitution to the people he defrauded, plus interest. But now with just $2M in campaign contributions, he presumably pays none of it and is a free man.”

… Rep. Dan Goldman: “CORRUPTION ALERT: Donald Trump just sold a get-out-of-jail-free card to convicted fraudster Nikola Trevor for $1.6 million in campaign donations. This presidency is a pay-to-play racket. If justice is for sale, our system will fail.”

… Trump was asked today why he pardoned Milton: “It was highly recommended by many people. He was one of the first people who supported Donald Trump for