Apolitical action committee has filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Donald Trump over his recent two-hour live interview with Elon Musk.
End Citizens United, a Democrat-aligned PAC, claims that the interview “amounted to a virtual campaign event” for Trump financed by X, formerly Twitter, which would be in violation of federal law.
The complaint names Trump, his campaign treasurer Bradley T. Crate and X as the respondents.
“Such a brazen corporate contribution undermines the anti-corruption aims of the Act, and the Commission should immediately investigate these violations and take appropriate remedial action,” the complaint said, referring to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.
Federal law bans corporations from making contributions to political candidates and candidates from accepting such contributions.
The complaint notes that a “contribution” can be considered as “anything of value” provided to a candidate in connection with their election.
Newsweek reached out to the Trump campaign and X’s press office via email.
In the complaint, End Citizens United noted that Musk advocated for Trump’s campaign during the interview and that X employees were working to facilitate the event in real-time.
“Here—the considerable resources of X to host Trump’s campaign event, including dedicating real-time staff to address technical difficulties specifically for the campaign event and the time of its owner to participate in the event—are of significant value to the Trump Campaign,” the complaint says.
Trump participated in the live-streamed conversation with Musk, the billionaire owner of X, on Monday.
The interview took place on Spaces on X, a tool to host live audio conversations. The conversation generated millions of views but was hit with technical glitches that delayed its start by 40 minutes.
Musk has previously endorsed Trump and reiterated his support of him during the livestream.
The complaint ends with a request to the FEC to “immediately investigate these violations, fine Respondents the maximum amount permitted by law, and enjoin Respondents from further violations of the law.”
The complaint noted that while the law provides a media exemption, this exemption does not protect the resources used by X.
End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller said in a statement: “The Donald Trump-Elon Musk campaign rally hosted on X wasn’t just an incoherent diatribe of lies marred by technical difficulties, it was a blatantly illegal corporate contribution to Donald Trump’s campaign.”
“This brazen corporate contribution undermines campaign finance laws and would set a dangerous precedent for unfettered, direct corporate engagement in campaigns. The FEC must investigate this corporate-funded campaign event and hold Trump, his campaign, and X Corp. accountable.”
