w/ Exclusive Interviews by Matthew Russell Lee
SDNY Courthouse, Dec 11 – In September and October 2022 Trevor Milton, founder of Nikola Motor was put on trial for fraudulent claims about NKLA's hydrogen trucks.
On Friday, October 14, Milton was found guilty on three of four counts.
Published hours after the verdict was a book by Matthew Russell Lee, who live tweeted and reported on the trial daily, and put questions to Milton and his lawyers in Foley Square outside.
On December 14, Milton filed requesting a new trial - citing InnerCityPress.com "Book Interviews" published on October 16 and 17, 2022, see Milton's filing on DocumentCloud here.
On November 14, 2023 Milton's counsel asked for mere probation, contrasting Milton to Elizabeth Holmes and more recently OneCoin's Sebastian Greenwood (whose sealing of sentencing letters Inner City Press has appealed while still seeking pro bono counsel). List of Milton's supportive letters on Patreon here.
On November 16, there was a brief proceeding about Milton being able to use documents from his arbitration with Nikola, for his sentencing. The parties were to confer. On November 20, Milton's counsel said the conferring had not been successful, and asked for an order providing access to, among other things, deposition and/or hearing testimony of Girsky, Russell, Brady, Worthen, Kevin Lynk and Dane Davis; and interviews of Tony Heaton, Pablo Koziner, Nicole Rose, Christian Appel, Michael Erickson, Vince Caramella, Stephanie Fleck- full letter on Patreon here.
On November 21, Judge Ramos docketed an order pushing Milton's sentencing to December 18.
On December 11, the US asked to put out a press release for victims: "The Government writes regarding notice to victims regarding sentencing and a potential restitution award in the above-captioned matter. For the reasons set forth below, the Government respectfully requests that the Court permit the Government to provide notice by issuing a press release and/or making a public post on a Department of Justice website." Full letter on Patreon here.
After Milton's past December 14 filing, Inner City Press reached out to the juror about Milton's team's claims. She scoffed, "It’s an old Facebook post from 2017 like when Bernie ran And it was a repost from AOC not even my words Trevor wasn’t even on the radar then. And I liked Elon until he bought Twitter Taxing the rich isn’t the same as fraud Which I think makes sense anyways The funny thing is. I really don’t use social media. Like yeah my Facebook is active and Twitter and instagram but I don’t actively use them. I’ll never delete my Facebook because if my family needs me that’s how they reach me."
And on February 2, 2023, Milton's team filed a reply, quoting the above and equating skepticism about corporate fraud with racism, demanding a hearing or a new trial. They write: "her post-trial interviews - including one given recently about Mr. Milton's motions - demonstrate she understands perfectly well that the 'news' is not just YouTube and that "social media" includes Facebook and Twitter." Filing(s) are pending before Judge Ramos.
On January 23, Judge Ramos pushed Milton's sentencing back to June 21: "ORDER granting [261] LETTER MOTION request a revised post-trial briefing schedule and adjournment of sentencing. The revised post-trial briefing schedule is approved. Sentencing is adjourned to June 21, 2023 at 10 a.m. The Clerk of the Court is respectfully directed to terminate the motions, docs. 262 and 263. (Signed by Judge Edgardo Ramos on 1/23/2023)."
So how much change does Milton's appeal on this have?
The Monday after the Friday verdict, Inner City Press conducted a second interview, after a first, screen shots on Patreon here - and full version of 2d interview here and below.
Interviews: Juror #9, "V" - "Sure, Overall the entire trial was very dense in terms of information I myself I estimate took at least 50 pages of notes front and back. While Mr. Milton may not have liked the result he should know that he did in fact receive a completely fair trial in my opinion. Personally in my notes I did have to write "credibility?" and ultimately did not use two witnesses testimony in my deliberation reasoning due to the fact I just couldn't find them credible....
... Roughly for the first hour and a half absolutely no decision was made at all on any counts. Personally it began to feel like we may have been a hung jury.
"This is when we began to request a few pieces of evidence we did not take any notes on that we needed to break the ice. Once we received those aids deliberations became smoother albeit there were moments of silence here and there as we contemplated what a juror may have said or looked for a piece of evidence that contradicted or further supported what was said.
"That being said on Count 2 that I've seen many questions on after looking up to see what the public thought was he was close to being convicted he reached 2/3 requirements and we began discussing the third it was then that I re-read the charge and noticed that while similar to count 1 count 2 had to meet ALL requirements.
"When asking if anyone noticed any evidence to suggest the government had met this criteria we found they fell short. In regards to count four I just wanted to mention we in fact did not even like Mr. Hicks and personally I believe he is greedy, but examining the law Trevor was still in fact guilty." Full interview on Patreon here.
The case is US v. Milton, 21-cr-478 (Ramos)
Watch this site.
Lee was each day in the courtroom of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Edgardo Ramos, and venturing farther afield to investigate leads exclusively give to him and Inner City Press and by Nikola whistleblowers.
As the trial wound down, Inner City Press published descriptions of documented destroyed within Nikola, and guilty knowledge by officials still at the company.
Material from those whistleblowers, the trial and even some more speculative and literary excursions featuring recurring characters Kurt Wheelock and Michael Randall Long, featured in the Ghislaine Maxwell book "Maximum Maxwell" as noted by New York Magazine, here, made its way at the speed of the Internet into the new book
"Hydrogen Heist: The Trial of Nikola's Trevor Milton: On Fraud, Guilty of 3 of 4 Counts; From Musk and Tesla Wannabe to Convict in SDNY, by Matthew Russell Lee
This review will leave it to others to find over-reaches and typos. For his reporting, Lee was banned from the United Nations in 2018 by SG Antonio Guterres, whose Media Accrediation chief Melissa Fleming has ignored appeals from a UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and, pro bono, the law firm of Quinn Emanuel.
One might surmise that history leads to some of the book's (over?) identification with the defendant.
The case is US v. Milton, 21-cr-478 (Ramos)
A full scope instantaneous view of and taking off from trials like US v. Trevor Milton seems to be Inner City Press' project here.
And here it is.
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