Trump pardons ex-Nikola CEO Trevor Milton

Trevor Milton, laminitis of Nikola Corp., exits tribunal successful New York, US, connected Monday, Sept. 12, 2022.

Trevor Milton, the laminitis of Nikola Motors who was convicted of defrauding investors successful his zero-emission motortruck company, has been pardoned by President Donald Trump, the White House confirmed Friday.

A national assemblage convicted Milton of lying astir Nikola’s capabilities, including an assertion that it had built its ain electrical truck, the Nikola One, from the “ground up.” He was besides accused of staging a video that purportedly showed its Nikola One semi driving nether its ain powerfulness erstwhile it was actually rolling down a hill.

Milton was sentenced to 4 years successful prison, but remained retired connected enslaved portion helium appealed his conviction. “I americium free,” Milton said successful a video posted connected X. “The prosecutors tin nary longer wounded me.”

Founded successful 2015, Nikola staked retired a unsocial presumption successful the EV abstraction by claiming it would marque zero-emission large rigs utilizing hydrogen substance compartment technology. But questions emerged astir the company’s claims aft short-selling steadfast Hindenburg Research published a bombshell report accusing Nikola of fraud, including the video showing the motortruck rolling down a hill. The study acceptable disconnected a concatenation absorption that resulted successful Milton’s stepping down arsenic committee seat and CEO and his eventual arrest.

In summation to staging the video, Milton was accused of falsely claiming to nutrient his ain hydrogen fuels astatine below-market rates and obtaining “billions and billions and billions and billions” of dollars’ worthy of committed motortruck orders. Earlier this year, Nikola filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Milton isn’t the archetypal arguable fig for the proscription satellite to person a pardon from Trump. During his archetypal term, Trump pardoned Anthony Levandowski, who was convicted of stealing commercialized secrets from Google’s self-driving car division.