Delaware Judge Reassigns Elon Musk Cases After Bias Allegations

Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen McCormick has reassigned several cases related to Elon Musk after the Tesla CEO accused her of bias. The dispute arose from a LinkedIn post that McCormick allegedly supported, related to a legal defeat for Musk in California. In a letter issued on Monday, McCormick stated that she would not recuse herself, but would hand over three cases against the Tesla CEO to other judges.

McCormick wrote: "The motion for recusal rests on a false premise—that I support a LinkedIn post about Mr. Musk, which I do not in fact support." She added, "I am not biased against the defendants in these actions. In fact, I dismissed a suit against Mr. Musk just last year. The motion for recusal is denied."

The judge justified her decision to reassign the cases by arguing that "disproportionate media attention surrounding a judge’s handling of an action is detrimental to the administration of justice".

The conflict centers on a LinkedIn post that McCormick interacted with, celebrating Musk's recent legal defeat in California, where a jury determined that he misled Twitter shareholders by driving down the company's stock price before its 2022 acquisition. McCormick's account apparently "supported" the post, although the judge has stated that she was unaware of the interaction until LinkedIn notified her, according to the Financial Times.

McCormick stated: "I either did not click the 'support' icon at all, or I did so accidentally. I do not believe that I did it accidentally," according to the Times. Among the reassigned cases is the lawsuit over Musk's multibillion-dollar compensation package from Tesla. The 2018 compensation agreement, which was initially worth around $56 billion, was blocked twice by McCormick, who determined that it was unfairly negotiated.

In addition to the reassignment of cases, The Hill Technology newsletter addresses other relevant topics. A new poll reveals that 80% of Americans are concerned about artificial intelligence. It also reports on the pressure from Democrats on the Trump administration regarding the use of insider information in prediction markets. More than 40 Democratic lawmakers, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, are urging the administration to provide guidance that underscores that federal employees cannot use non-public information to trade in prediction markets.

Jack Schlossberg, grandson of former President Kennedy and a candidate for Congress for New York, criticized the influx of money from billionaires and the tech industry in his election campaign, calling it an attempt to "buy an election".

In the cryptocurrency field, a new cryptocurrency-focused PAC has been launched, backed by Anchorage Digital and Chainlink Labs. The Blockchain Leadership Fund aims to support candidates who promote a clear, durable, and innovative digital asset policy. It is a hybrid PAC, which means it can donate to individual candidates and independently spend money to support or oppose candidates. This PAC joins an environment previously dominated by Fairshake and its affiliated super PACs, which spent heavily in the 2024 elections and accumulated a war chest of $193 million at the beginning of this year.

The Hill Technology newsletter provides links to other technology-related articles, such as a study on how self-affirmations from AI chatbots can harm human relationships, and opinion pieces on technology topics. The Hill's coverage spans a wide range of topics, from politics to the tech industry, providing a comprehensive view of the most important events.