Nikola is paying $8.1 million in legal fees for ousted chairman Milton

Embattled electric truck start-up Nikola is paying $8.1 million in attorney fees for ousted founder and chairman Trevor Milton, who left the company in September following fraud claims by a short-seller that prompted federal inquiries.

That helped drive the company’s legal expenses last year to $27.5 million. Most of that, $24.7 million, was spent responding to regulatory probes and other litigation related to the claims by Hindenburg Research, Nikola…