Trump Pardons Founder of Electric Vehicle Start-Up Nikola, Trevor Milton (theguardian.com) 64
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Trevor Milton, the founder of electric vehicle start-up Nikola who was sentenced to prison last year, was pardoned by Donald Trump late on Thursday, the White House confirmed on Friday. The pardon of Milton, who was sentenced to four years in prison for exaggerating the potential of his technology, could wipe out hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution that prosecutors were seeking for defrauded investors. Milton and his wife donated more than $1.8 million to a Trump re-election campaign fund less than a month before the November election, according to the Federal Election Commission.
At Milton's trial, prosecutors say a company video of a prototype truck appearing to be driven down a desert highway was actually a video of a non-functioning Nikola that had been rolled down a hill. Milton had not been incarcerated pending an appeal. Milton said late on Thursday on social media and via a press release that he had been pardoned by Trump. "I am incredibly grateful to President Trump for his courage in standing up for what is right and for granting me this sacred pardon of innocence," Milton said. Here's a timeline of notable events surrounding Nikola:
June, 2016: Nikola Motor Receives Over 7,000 Preorders Worth Over $2.3 Billion For Its Electric Truck
December, 2016: Nikola Motor Company Reveals Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck With Range of 1,200 Miles
February, 2020: Nikola Motors Unveils Hybrid Fuel-Cell Concept Truck With 600-Mile Range
June, 2020: Nikola Founder Exaggerated the Capability of His Debut Truck
September, 2020: Nikola Motors Accused of Massive Fraud, Ocean of Lies
September, 2020: Nikola Admits Prototype Was Rolling Downhill In Promo Video
September, 2020: Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Steps Down as Chairman in Battle With Short Seller
October, 2020: Nikola Stock Falls 14 Percent After CEO Downplays Badger Truck Plans
November, 2020: Nikola Stock Plunges As Company Cancels Badger Pickup Truck
July, 2021: Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Indicted on Three Counts of Fraud
December, 2021: EV Startup Nikola Agrees To $125 Million Settlement
September, 2022: Nikola Founder Lied To Investors About Tech, Prosecutor Says in Fraud Trial
December, 2023: Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Sentenced To 4 Years For Securities Fraud
February 19, 2025: Nikola Files for Bankruptcy With Plans To Sell Assets, Wind Down
At Milton's trial, prosecutors say a company video of a prototype truck appearing to be driven down a desert highway was actually a video of a non-functioning Nikola that had been rolled down a hill. Milton had not been incarcerated pending an appeal. Milton said late on Thursday on social media and via a press release that he had been pardoned by Trump. "I am incredibly grateful to President Trump for his courage in standing up for what is right and for granting me this sacred pardon of innocence," Milton said. Here's a timeline of notable events surrounding Nikola:
June, 2016: Nikola Motor Receives Over 7,000 Preorders Worth Over $2.3 Billion For Its Electric Truck
December, 2016: Nikola Motor Company Reveals Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck With Range of 1,200 Miles
February, 2020: Nikola Motors Unveils Hybrid Fuel-Cell Concept Truck With 600-Mile Range
June, 2020: Nikola Founder Exaggerated the Capability of His Debut Truck
September, 2020: Nikola Motors Accused of Massive Fraud, Ocean of Lies
September, 2020: Nikola Admits Prototype Was Rolling Downhill In Promo Video
September, 2020: Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Steps Down as Chairman in Battle With Short Seller
October, 2020: Nikola Stock Falls 14 Percent After CEO Downplays Badger Truck Plans
November, 2020: Nikola Stock Plunges As Company Cancels Badger Pickup Truck
July, 2021: Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Indicted on Three Counts of Fraud
December, 2021: EV Startup Nikola Agrees To $125 Million Settlement
September, 2022: Nikola Founder Lied To Investors About Tech, Prosecutor Says in Fraud Trial
December, 2023: Nikola Founder Trevor Milton Sentenced To 4 Years For Securities Fraud
February 19, 2025: Nikola Files for Bankruptcy With Plans To Sell Assets, Wind Down
WCC (Score:2, Insightful)
Wealthy Criminals Club
Where they only drink Tres Comas Tequila
Re: (Score:2)
Russ wasn't actually that bad of a guy.
both sides (Score:1)
SBF next? (Score:3)
Re: SBF next? (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
I've met some dick rider and kool aid drinkers in my day, but good lord.
Re:SBF next? (Score:4, Interesting)
Biden started this with his preemptive pardons.
And considering the way this presidency is turning into non-stop petty retribution, it's a good thing he did those preemptive pardons.
Re: (Score:1)
Re:SBF next? (Score:4, Insightful)
Good for whom? Oh thank goodness Hunter Biden is safe from prosecution.
Hunter Biden being safe from prosecution is good in the same way that Richard Nixon being safe from prosecution was a good thing.
Now, purchasing presidential pardons is something entirely different. Why isn't this a bribe? Well, ... many reasons, including the Supreme Court giving Trump immunity for basically anything he does, the DOJ being Trump's wingman, and Congress being Trump's other wingman. Sort of gives a different meaning to "checks and balances." Trump gets the checks to increase his balance.
Biden's time machine (Score:5, Informative)
The first time (end of 2020) Donny scribbled on pardons, the results [reason.com] were:
Trump has issued 94 pardons and commutations;
68 of the 94 advance his political agenda;
40 of 94 recipients had a personal connection to the President;
20 of the 94 had some sort of celebrity status;
86 of the 94 had some sort of personal or political connection to the President;
Only 7 of the 94 appear to have been recommended by the DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney.
And of course they were for sale [opensecrets.org] then, too.
Take your bothsides nonsense somewhere where readers enjoy being gaslit, like the NYT.
Re: You didn't say anything about Biden? (Score:2)
What does other people have to do with what Trump is doing wrong?
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False, because Trump did it too, before Biden was president. And certainly Trump wasn't the first.
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Yes, because Trump absolutely didn't pardon a bunch of cronies and criminals who paid for clemency on his way out the door in January of 2021.
You fucking cultist muppet.
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Came here to say that SBF must be jumping for joy at this news, he should be free as soon as the check clears.
the holy sword of healing (Score:3)
"...granting me this sacred pardon of innocence..."
Who is stupid enough to not be nauseated by this language, SuperKendall?
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Who is stupid enough to not be nauseated by this language, SuperKendall?
People who have the Fox News logo burned into their tv.
Mafia Donald (Score:5, Funny)
It's cheaper than lawyers and more reliable.
Now accepting cryptocurrency for plausible deniability and tax avoidance!
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I've been reading over the pardons list, and pretty much the entire list of who he's pardoned this term have been either wealthy con artists, his backers or his donors.
I'm pretty certain this is not why the founders bestowed this power on presidents. It was *supposed* to be a last resort to undo grevious injustices.
Now I'm not saying this is unique to him. Presidents have been doing this shit for as long as I've been alive, but its become particularly egrarious under trump.
So he's guilty as charged (Score:2)
So he's guilty as charged, because accepting a pardon comes with the admission that you were, in fact, guilty.
Rich criminals, rejoice! Daddy Trump has your back (for the right price, of course).
Re:So he's guilty as charged (Score:5, Informative)
So he's guilty as charged, because accepting a pardon comes with the admission that you were, in fact, guilty.
Actually Nope...
In Lorrance v. Commandant, USDB, the 10th circuit finds that accepting a pardon does not confess to anything and does not preclude the recipient from petitioning for habeas corpus relief from his or her court-martial conviction and sentence.
Put simply, a presidential pardon does not denote innocence or change an existing conviction. Rather, it represents forgiveness. When one accepts a presidential pardon, he or she is not admitting guilt or waiving habeas rights.
https://courtmartiallaw.com/mi... [courtmartiallaw.com]
Rich criminals, rejoice! Daddy Trump has your back (for the right price, of course).
That part seems to be correct though.
Re: (Score:2)
I stand corrected!
Re:So he's guilty as charged (Score:4, Interesting)
One thing it absolutely does though, is remove any 5th amendment protections against testifying in ongoing criminal proceedings against co-conspirators.
If you no longer have any jeopardy of being prosecuted, you cannot use protections against self-incrimination. Of course, these idiots aren't thinking of that, but it might get really useful if he pardons the wrong guy and a prosecutor out there wants to compel testimony.
Re: So he's guilty as charged (Score:3)
Actually, yes. You misread (or didn't read at all) that case. When a person accepts a pardon, they are indeed confessing guilt. From Lorance:
"(The) general rule (is) that a pardon implies guilt and acceptance a confession thereof."
Lorance is really about whether you can maintain a habeas petition after pardon, not the meaning of a pardon itself.
Re: So he's guilty as charged (Score:4, Interesting)
Where is your pseudo quote coming from? It's not in Lorance, and its not in the article I quoted.
In the actual Lorance case:
CONCLUSION
For the reasons provided above, we hold that Lorance's acceptance of the presidential pardon did not constitute a legal confession of guilt or [...]
https://www.ca10.uscourts.gov/... [uscourts.gov]
The closest I see to your "quote" is quote from the article, (emphasis mine).
Due to the findings in the 1925 case, Burdick v. United States, it seems as though accepting a pardon is, in fact, admitting guilt. In Burdick the appellant was offered a pardon but declined it, also refusing to testify in criminal court. The opinion of the case given by the justices seemed to uncover that 1) [...] 2) [...] and 3) acceptance of a pardon implies acceptance of guilt.
But this references Burdick, and in the full context above, it merely states that it seems to imply that accepting the pardon implies guilt, which the article later goes on to clarify is not the case, from Lorance.
Re: So he's guilty as charged (Score:2)
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Since when did someone have to accept a pardon? There's nothing about that in the Constitution. The President pardons people whether they like it or not.
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That is apparently an open question. People have rejected pardons. Some of the January 6 people did so, in fact. Whether or not they can do that has to be decided by a court, and nobody has cared enough about forcing someone to accept a pardon to actually do that.
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People have rejected pardons. Some of the January 6 people did so, in fact.
Got a link? That would be an interesting read.
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https://www.npr.org/2025/01/23... [npr.org]
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Thanks :-)
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In addition to the other reply, this one talks about why you might reject a pardon. Apparently I was wrong, the US supreme court did rule on it, in 1833, and you can reject a pardon if you want to.
https://news.northeastern.edu/... [northeastern.edu]
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Yup.
https://slashdot.org/comments.... [slashdot.org]
get'em while they're hot! (Score:5, Insightful)
The kleptocracy is so embolden they don't even bother to hide it anymore.
Pardons! Pardons for sale! Get'em while their hot!
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Only $1.8 million? That's Bill Clinton level bribery. I am disappoint.
At his whim (Score:2)
A king is the fountainhead of justice.
Those weren't lies (Score:2)
Those were forward-looking statements.
Hmm (Score:2)
Is there anyone who donated money or campaigned for Trump that didn't get a pardon?
Re:Hmm (Score:4, Funny)
Epstein.
now we know (Score:2)
how much a presidential pardon costs. seems a bit cheap actually, but he IS a deal-maker, right?
Get rid of pardons (Score:2)
If someone is convicted of a heinous crime that causes great suffering to individuals there should be no route to pardon other than by a randomly selected multi-judge panel who finds the person wrongly convicted. Note, the key here is that the judges are randomly selected. I understand we need to sometimes exchange prisoners such as spies, but in that instance it must require approval from a randomly selected panel from the public (similar to juries), AND, the person must be exiled or banned from the US.
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To be fair, Presidential pardons used to be rigorously vetted and *usually* granted only after a certain number of years or after the person had served their sentence -- not simply because one gained favor of the President through friends or bribes - I mean - donations. Trump recently fired the pardon attorney at DOJ, whose job it was to research people and circumstances - guess she wasn't needed anymore...
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Help Trump = You're a "good guy" (Score:2)
It's who you know and what you pay ... (Score:4, Informative)
His lawyer is (now) U.S. AG Pam Bondi's brother and Milton donated $1.8M to Trump. Trump blames Milton conviction on the Biden administration being "vicious and violent" -- not Milton bilking investors out of $$$ and securities and wire fraud.
From Trump Defends Pardoning One of His Political Donors – Who Was Represented by Pam Bondi’s Brother
During the case, Milton retained Brad Bondi, the brother of longtime Trump ally Pam Bondi, who is now U.S. Attorney General. Milton was also represented by Marc Mukasey, who has represented the Trump Organization.
Milton and his wife donated more than $1.8 million to a pro-Trump reelection fund the month before November’s election.
“What was your reason for pardoning Trevor Milton?” the reporter asked.
“Uh, highly recommended by many people,” Trump replied. “There are many people like that. They support Trump and they went after him. You don’t realize this is a vicious group of people that were in this office before us. This is a vicious group. They’re violent.”
A variation of Trump's go-to pardon justification of "[person (I don't know)] was treated very unfairly." -- regardless of the crime and conviction by a jury ...
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A variation of Trump's go-to pardon justification of "[person (I don't know)] was treated very unfairly." -- regardless of the crime and conviction by a jury .
People who are pardoned aren't usually innocent. As to fairness, the question is whether they were charged because of their support for Trump. Would someone in similar circumstances who was not a Trump supporter have been charged. Biden pardoned people he was afraid would be targeted. Trump is pardoning people he claims were targeted. Of course in both cases those claims may not be the real reason. Biden pardoned his son because he is a loving father. Trump pardoned people because they paid for his love wit
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He's obviously full of shit in this case. But a jury isn't the be all and end all, like the jury where the majority has a financial stake in the outcome deciding to award over half a billion in damages against Green Peace for a blatant SLAPP.
the GOP will get just smashed in the midterms (Score:2)
His clown car of loyalists are a train wreck. We're less than 3 months into this shat-show and many MAGA'ts have thrown in the towel. Midterms will absolutely decimate the GOP. Hopefully we won't have some disaster, natural or otherwise till then, because the incompetence in the cabinet will cost American lives.
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Your comment presupposes there are going to be any midterms.
This is a slob who tried to send an armed mob to the Capitol to overthrow the government. Do you honestly think he would even hesitate to throw every non-Republican off the voter rolls, or just outright cancel the election?
"But The Constitution says that..." Please. That slob gives as much of a shit about The Constitution as Kristi Noem does about dogs.
Nothing short of force will get these people out. It remains to be seen what form of
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If he was going to do something nefarious, the Democrats would already be in jail, and congress would be passing everything he tells them. That you can't see this means you should urgently get TDS therapy (if such exists).
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If you will not apprehend the facts unfolding before your very eyes, there is little point in wasting time on you. But for the benefit of any spectators remaining:
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You are completely delusional, to the point of needing anti-psychotic drugs.
https://economictimes.indiatim... [indiatimes.com]
Pay to Play (Score:1)
We've seen him pardon many other pay-to-play criminals. Good to know he hasn't lost his touch.
Pardon admits guilt, not innocence. (Score:1)
A presidential pardon, as established in Burdick v. United States (1915), legally implies an admission of guilt because accepting it waives the recipientâ(TM)s right to challenge the conviction.
The Supreme Court ruled that a pardon is a form of forgiveness, not a declaration of innocence, meaning the recipient is assumed to have committed the offense.
If the individual were truly innocent, they would have the option to refuse the pardon and fight the conviction in court instead.
By accepting the pardon,
Pardons for Sale (Score:2)
Nothing to see here folks!
I don't blame him (Score:2)
How about a ban on pardoning donors? (Score:1)
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Is this like the democrats wanting to ban the Filibuster, but only when the republicans have a majority?
Situation normal (Score:2)
I never saw a start up that didn't stretch the truth to its limits, or even further. Did he really out and out lie, or was it just "hey here's my car" (which happens to be rolling).