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Wisconsin Panel Finds Elon Musk Likely Broke The Law With $1 Million Voter Checks

Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,

A bipartisan Wisconsin elections panel has determined there is probable cause that Elon Musk broke state law by offering two $1 million checks to voters during last year’s hotly contested Supreme Court race.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission voted 5-1 last week to file two complaints against the billionaire with Brown County District Attorney David Lasee. Prosecutors have 40 days to decide whether to file criminal charges under the state’s election bribery statute. That law blocks offering anything of value to entice someone to vote.

The complaints arose from Musk’s actions in the days before the April 1, 2025, election. He posted on X promising $1 million prizes and gave out two oversized checks at a Green Bay rally to supporters who signed a petition against “activist judges.” The recipients were Nicholas Jacobs and Ekaterina Diestler.

The commission said Musk’s social media promise and the public giveaway were meant to induce individuals to vote in that Supreme Court contest. Musk donated and backed groups in the race to help conservative candidate Brad Schimel flip the court’s liberal majority.

Musk’s spokespeople did not immediately return a request for comment.

Democrat-backed Susan Crawford defeated Schimel by approximately 10 percentage points. The loss came despite Musk-connected efforts spending tens of millions. Total spending in the race broke records, surpassing $100 million and rendering it the most expensive judicial contest in American history.

On March 30, 2025, Musk hosted a town hall in Green Bay, donning a cheesehead hat, and made a show of awarding the prizes. He told the crowd the race could impact the future of the state, the House of Representatives, and even “Western civilization.”

“The Wisconsin Supreme Court is able to redraw the districts,” he said at the event.

“They will gerrymander the district and deprive Wisconsin of two seats on the Republican side.”

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, tried to prevent the payouts. He filed emergency lawsuits arguing they violated laws against using money to influence votes. Lower courts turned him down. The state Supreme Court itself, with its liberal majority, refused to hear the last-minute appeal without explanation.

Kaul’s office had said it was committed to “safe, secure, free and fair” elections. But the payments were made anyway.

Crawford’s victory maintained the 4-3 liberal sway on the court. Conservatives had hoped a new majority could help redraw congressional maps and bolster Republican influence in Washington. 

Musk later signaled he'd slow down political spending, and his side framed the checks as rewards for petition signers and publicity, not direct vote-buying. Similar complaints were lodged around Musk’s $100 offers for petition signatures in other states.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 11:05

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WTI Dips As US Crude Production Hits Record High, SPR Draw Slows, Cushing Remains At 'Tank Bottoms'

Oil prices are marginally higher overnight after President Trump reinstated the blockade on Iranian ports in the Strait of Hormuz and shipping slowed to a crawl amid the renewed warfare in the critical waterway.

US Central Command said it completed a morning round of strikes on Iran that further degraded its ability to attack commercial shipping in Hormuz.

It comes a day after attacks on ships that had been participating in so-called shuttle runs that have helped get oil from inside the Persian Gulf through the strait.

Visible transit through the waterway has fallen sharply in recent days, but there remains a high level of uncertainty about what’s actually crossing because many ships have been doing so dark - without broadcasting their location.

“While crude has started to find some balance after rallying from around $70, it still takes a brave shipowner to transit the Strait of Hormuz with the threat of attacks from forces aligned with Tehran remaining very real,” said Chris Weston, head of research at Pepperstone Group Ltd.

“The broader geopolitical backdrop continues to deteriorate, providing ongoing support for crude prices and keeping buyers prepared to step back in should prices push toward the $90 area.”

Overnight saw mixed data from API on crude/product supply, all eyes now on the official data.

API

• Crude -564k

• Cushing +200k

• Gasoline -1.664mm

• Distillates +2.3mm

DOE

• Crude -1.69mm (-900k exp)

• Cushing +430k

• Gasoline -1.53mm

• Distillates +4.56mm - biggest build since Jan 2026

After a build the prior week, crude stocks resumed their series of drawdowns last week (11 of last 12 weeks) and gasoline stocks also saw another draw while distillate stocks soared (amid record 3-2-1 crack spreads)...

Crack spreads remain at record highs...

The SPR saw yet another drawdown... but the smallest since the war-driven releases began (-2.985mm)...

Cushing stocks barely moved off 'tank bottoms'...

US crude production pushed back up to record highs as the rig count trends higher...

Interestingly, after reaching record highs in the prior week, US crude product exports plunged to pre-war norms last week (but bear in mind this data series is a week lagged)...

The rebound in crude... and more notably products... has started to drag pump prices higher in the US...

Not what President trump wants to see.

But oil prices are dipping after the report...

Finally, as The FT reports, oil traders are warning that the latest flare-up of tensions in the Strait of Hormuz marks a risky new phase for the market, which is facing fresh disruption without the stockpiles that helped avert a wider economic crisis earlier in the US-Iran war.

“We’ve burned through all of the buffers we had. Everything,” said one trader.

“All of that’s now gone,” he said.

Western powers released record volumes of strategic oil reserves, China cut its oil imports in half and made its state-backed companies pull fuel from inventories, while the White House even let it be known the US could, in theory at least, intervene in futures markets if prices got out of hand.

The result was that Brent crude peaked at $126 a barrel in April, well below its all-time high, despite the IEA warning that the world was experiencing the worst supply disruption in history.

But traders said that if the renewed closure of the strait lasts for months, with some suspecting Iran wants to keep the pressure on US President Donald Trump ahead of the November midterm elections, it is not clear this time where the oil to make up the shortfall would come from.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 10:40

"Going To Rock A Lot Of Things": Pentair Crashes After Guidance Cut And CFO Exit As Pool Boom Fades

Pentair shares crashed in early U.S. cash trading after the swimming pool equipment and water treatment systems company slashed its 2026 outlook. Preliminary second-quarter results also missed estimates, while the sudden departure of its CFO raises questions about the company's trajectory and whether the Covid-era pool boom has finally run its course.

Pentair now expects full-year adjusted earnings of $4.60 to $4.80 per share, down from prior estimates of $5.30 to $5.40, and well below the Bloomberg consensus estimate of $5.33.

Preliminary second quarter sales were about $930 million, while adjusted earnings of roughly $1.12 per share missed the $1.47 consensus.

Goldman analysts told clients earlier:

Watching PNR down 18% pre-market – big guide down last night + CFO resigning. This is going to rock a lot of things consumer today – PNR sells equipment into the pool end market. POOL HAYW are the other names people will sell. But broad negative read.

The Covid-era pool boom boosted Pentair's revenues beginning in the second half of 2020, and quarterly revenues have since flatlined around $1 billion.

Here's what other Wall Street analysts are saying (courtesy of Bloomberg):

RBC Capital Markets (sector perform from outperform)

• Analyst Deane Dray downgrades to sector perform after a "negative preannouncement, full year guidance cut, and surprise CFO departure after just four months in the role"
• Says Pool channel destocking is "clearly proving far worse" than previously communicated by management; says lack of visibility of recovery makes it a "show-me story for now"

TD Cowen (sell)

• Analyst Joe Giordano sees a "significant" miss and that "magnitude of the reset highlights questions around market share dynamics and underlying market health into 2027"
• Says announcement suggests "more extreme" underperformance, "sizeable" change in market dynamics, or combination of both

Citi (buy)

• Analyst Andrew Kaplowitz says quarterly revenue miss was "meaningful," flagging company commentary that Pool channel inventory weighed on results
• Say that even with leadership and business changes "we acknowledge that remaining 3Q destocking actions and investor concern around PNR's Pool market share could keep shares pressured in the near-term"

It remains unclear how or when Pentair's pool business will recover. Perhaps lower interest rates and another pandemic-driven home improvement boom are what it will take to revive demand.

Tyler Durden Wed, 07/15/2026 - 10:35

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