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Lawyer’s explanation for Musk’s no-show sparks laughter in court as trial paused

A Philadelphia lawsuit aimed at stopping Elon Musk and his $1 million campaign payday has now moved to federal court.

The billionaire did not attend the 10 a.m. hearing in a state courtroom as Judge Angelo Foglietta had requested.

Musk’s lawyers filed notice of dismissal in Pennsylvania federal court hours before the start of the morning hearing.

There, lawyers will argue about where the case should be tried. Lawyers for the Philadelphia District Attorney say they want to send the case back to state court in front of Elon Musk.

They are trying to stop him and his political action committee from handing out $1 million checks to registered voters in Pennsylvania, arguing that it is an illegal lottery designed to influence voters.

There was laughter in court as Musk’s lawyers talked about his availability and how difficult it would be to appear in court on 12 hours’ notice.

The DA’s lawyer countered that he was a big man who owned SpaceX, to which the judge responded, “He’s not going to take a rocket ship and land on a building, let’s be serious.”

The lawyer said: “If anyone could land a rocket ship in Philadelphia, it would be Elon Musk.”