Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Read more
Elon Musk has helped circulate a conspiracy theory claiming the Wisconsin Supreme Court election was rigged after the candidate he backed was beaten.
Liberal judge Susan Crawford, who was backed by Democrats and a Dane County circuit judge, secured a 10-year term over Brad Schimel, a Waukesha County circuit judge who was endorsed by President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser, Musk.
The election, although technically nonpartisan, has drawn national attention and at least one conspiracy theory.
Republican lobbyist Roger Stone claimed in an interview with far-right InfoWars host Alex Jones that Crawford’s campaign was “illegally financed” by “millions of dollars of laundered money once again through Act Blue” during a live stream on Musk’s X social media platform on Wednesday.
Musk responded to a clip shared by Jones by posting “Hmm”, and therefore sharing it with millions of users.
open image in gallery
The InfoWars broadcaster is known for sharing controversial theories – one of which was a claim that the Boston Marathon terrorist attack in 2013 was staged by the FBI, as reported by NPR.
In the interview, Stone went on to declare that a “ten-page criminal complaint” had been filed against Crawford in the wake of defeat.
He insisted that Democrats had one-upped Republicans by mastering “mail-in ballot collection over a lengthy early voting period” and, thus, could “accurately forecast how many ballots they need in order to overcome Republican performance on election day,” as per the live stream.
“The fraud was baked in – in the mail-in votes,” Stone said before adding, “Election fraud is alive and well, and it lives in Wisconsin”.
Crawford retained a 4-3 liberal majority and will go on to steer key decisions on litigation involving abortion access, voting rights, and redistricting.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Trump disclosed to his inner circle that Musk would be taking a step back from his political duties as DOGE-lead in the coming weeks.
open image in gallery
open image in gallery
Musk’s stint as a special government employee is capped at 130 days, meaning that his time as Trump’s special aide will end at the end of May.
Trump hinted on Monday that the billionaire would be leaving his administration soon, stating, “At a certain point, I think it will end.”
Yet when the news broke that a senior official had confirmed the world’s richest man’s departure, Tesla Inc. shares rose.
When the markets closed Wednesday, the Tesla share price was up 5.33 percent on Nasdaq.
Musk has, however, denied the reported government departure.
In a post on X, he denounced a Politico report on the so-called departure as “fake news.”
Musk is due to lead DOGE until the summer of 2026.
