By Steven Symes 
Controversial Nikola Corporation founder Trevor Milton received a full pardon by President Trump recently and not everyone’s happy about it. Understandably, Milton is expressing gratitude and relief, saying when he first received a call with “Executive Offices of the President of the United States” showing on the caller ID he wasn’t sure if the call was fake or real. But it was very real, and Trump himself informed the man a pardon was coming.
In financial peril, Nissan does an interesting, revealing thing.
We covered in late February how all-electric commercial truck maker Nikola has filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is done as a company. That came after accusations of fraud by an investor, Milton resigning as CEO, the company settling with federal regulators for a $125 million fine, and Milton being convicted of fraud, himself receiving a $1 million fine and a four year prison sentence.
Why Nikola failed as a company has been hotly contested, with the current CEO blaming “various market and macroeconomic factors.”
Interestingly enough, some media outlets have decided to leave some details of what President Trump said to the media out, making it sound like he doesn’t know anything about Milton’s case. We can’t so for sure how much he does know, but we can say an article by CNBC snips out an important clause.
The CNBC article quotes Trump saying, “I think he (Milton) was exonerated.” Then it quotes where he says, “And then they brought him into New York, he had a rough, rough road, and… he was exonerated. It was a big celebration.” Right after that, the article makes sure to state Milton was convicted in court in New York back in October 2022.
Here’s the full quote from President Trump: “He did a business deal like in Utah, as I have it. And I think he was exonerated. And then they brought him into New York, he had a rough, rough road, and he was exonerated, it was a big celebration.”
We’re not going to weigh in on whether Milton committed securities fraud, but we do think it’s important to note Milton had been exonerated in a Utah court, only for the case to be tried in New York, so Trump did in fact get that right.
As for why the case was moved to New York, a press release put out by Trevor Milton offers a theory on that: “The 90+% conviction rate in New York is appalling and is a result of prosecutors getting whatever they want and putting innocent people in prison. I saw firsthand the tactics they use to achieve those guaranteed convictions.”
Image via Nikola Corporation