President Donald Trump pardoned Nikola Corp. founder Trevor Milton for his 2022 conviction of federal crimes associated to defrauding investors with false claims concerning the success of the electrical and hydrogen-powered truck maker.
Milton, 42, was sentenced in December 2023 to 4 years in prison, however he has been free since then pending an attraction of the previous CEO’s legal conviction on securities and wire fraud costs in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
The pardon got here two weeks after federal prosecutors urged District Court docket Choose Edgardo Ramos to order Milton to pay restitution of $680 million to Nikola shareholders, and one other $15.2 million to Peter Hicks, a sufferer of his wire fraud.
Due to the pardon, Ramos now can not order restitution of any sort.
Trevor Milton, founding father of Nikola Corp., arrives at courtroom in New York, on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022.
Victor J. Blue | Bloomberg | Getty Photographs
“Oh my gosh, oh, you will not consider what simply occurred,” Milton stated in an Instagram video posted on his private account Thursday. “In all probability one of the best day I’ve had in 5 years.”
“I simply bought a name from the president of the US, on my cellphone, and he signed my full and unconditional pardon of innocence,” stated Milton, who gave the impression to be driving a car within the video.
“I’m free. The prosecutors can not damage me,” he stated. “They can not destroy my household, they cannot rip every thing away from me, they cannot damage my life.”
The White Home confirmed the pardon.
Trump later Friday was requested why he granted Milton a pardon.
“I believe he was exonerated,” Trump stated instructed reporters on the White Home. “After which they introduced him into New York, he had a tough, tough highway, and … he was exonerated. It was an enormous celebration. “
Milton was convicted at trial in October 2022.
“They are saying the factor that he did unsuitable was, he was one of many first folks that supported a gentleman named Donald Trump for president,” Trump stated. “He supported Trump. He appreciated Trump. I did not know him, however he appreciated him.”
Trump went on to say of Milton, “They persecuted him, they destroyed 5 years of his life. He … fought for 5 years of his life, and he did nothing unsuitable.”
“And he is a superb individual.”
Protection attorneys for Milton didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
Milton, in an announcement, stated that considered one of his legal professionals, Bradley Bondi, didn’t work on his utility for a pardon.
Bondi is the brother of U.S. Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi, who was appointed to her put up by Trump.
A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace, which prosecuted Milton, declined to touch upon the pardon.
The Manhattan U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace, when it obtained an indictment towards Milton in 2021, stated some buyers defrauded by his scheme “suffered tens and even a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars} in losses, together with, in sure instances, the lack of their retirement financial savings or funds that they’d borrowed to spend money on Nikola.”
In a press release Thursday, Milton stated, “This pardon isn’t just about me — it is about each American who has been railroaded by the federal government, and sadly, that is lots of people.”
Milton stated that there are “hanging similarities” between his case “and people introduced towards President Trump.”
The president was charged in 4 legal instances between his first and second phrases within the White Home.
After Trump was elected in November, the U.S. Justice Division sought the dismissal of the 2 federal instances, citing a division coverage that bars the federal prosecution of sitting presidents.
Following Milton’s 2023 sentencing, the previous Nikola CEO made vital political donations to Trump and his allies. This included $920,000 to the Trump 47 Committee in October of 2024, and $750,000 in September to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA Alliance political motion committee.
Kennedy, a former unbiased presidential candidate in 2024, was lately confirmed as Trump’s secretary of Well being and Human Companies.
Federal marketing campaign finance data point out that 2024 was the primary yr Milton ever made six-figure political contributions.
As of noon Friday, there was no submitting in Manhattan federal courtroom or the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court docket of Appeals indicating that the legal case towards Milton had been terminated attributable to a pardon.
Nevertheless, it’s not unusual for notices of presidential pardons to be filed with the courtroom a number of days after the pardons are issued.
Trevor Milton CEO of Nikola
Massimo Pinca | Reuters
“It’s no marvel why belief and confidence within the Justice Division has eroded to nothing,” Milton stated within the press launch.
“I want judges would cease believing regardless of the prosecutors feed them so People may belief the justice system once more,” he stated. “Till that occurs, our justice system will proceed to erode till there’s nothing left.”
Trump’s pardon of Milton, if confirmed, would erase his legal conviction and the sentence, which included a $1 million wonderful.
A string of pardons
Earlier this month, Trump pardoned former Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey, who had simply begun serving a 21-month jail time period after pleading responsible in a federal marketing campaign finance conspiracy case.
In that case, it took per week after Kelsey was launched from jail for the discover of the pardon to be filed in federal courtroom.
Earlier this week, Trump signed a full and unconditional pardon for Devon Archer, a one-time enterprise associate of Hunter Biden, former President Joe Biden‘s son.
Like Milton, Archer had additionally been convicted in a fraud case.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds an Government Grant of Clemency for Devon Archer, on the White Home in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 25, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Proper after his Jan. 20 inauguration, Trump notably pardoned round 1,500 individuals who have been both charged or convicted of crimes associated to the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of the president’s supporters.
On his second day in workplace, Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht, who was serving a life sentence for crimes associated to his darkish internet market Silk Highway.
In February, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich obtained a presidential pardon. Blagojevich had served eight years in jail after he was convicted of making an attempt to promote the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama, after the first-term senator was elected president in 2008.
Nikola’s collapse
In February, Nikola filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Chapter Court docket in Delaware.
The corporate stated in a submitting that it had liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion, and belongings of between $500 million and $1 billion. It additionally sought courtroom approval to pursue a sale of the enterprise, saying it had about $47 million in money readily available.
Nikola, which makes primarily all-electric and gas cell electrical semi-trucks, has struggled lately. The corporate had solely offered 600 autos since 2022, as of its most up-to-date third quarter.
As the corporate’s capital has shrunk, a lot of its vehicles have been recalled because of defects. In its third-quarter convention name, the corporate warned buyers it had sufficient money to fund operations into the primary quarter of 2025, however not past that.
Nikola TRE FCEV2
Courtesy: Nikola
The collapse of Nikola comes simply 5 years after it hit a $30 billion market capitalization in 2020, exceeding that of Ford on the time.
The valuation was fueled by deceptive statements by Milton, who was indicted in July 2021.
In line with prosecutors, from November 2019 by means of September 2020 Milton induced non-professional buyers to spend money on Nikola “by means of false and deceptive statements concerning Nikola’s product improvement … by means of social media and tv, print, and podcast interviews.”
“Milton made false claims concerning practically all elements of Nikola’s enterprise,” the Manhattan U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace stated on the time of his indictment.
These included false claims “that the corporate had early success in making a ‘absolutely functioning’ semi-truck prototype referred to as the ‘Nikola One,’ when Milton knew the prototype was inoperable.”
The workplace additionally stated Milton had made “false and deceptive statements that Nikola had engineered and constructed an electric- and hydrogen-powered pickup truck referred to as ‘the Badger’ from the ‘floor up’ utilizing Nikola’s elements and know-how, when Milton knew that was not true.”
Final fall, a choose confirmed an almost $168 million arbitration award towards Milton for his deceptive statements about Nikola.
— CNBC’s Eamon Javers contributed to this story.
