Further up someone says a private investor should have done due diligence. My point is before it went public, Nikola was private, and someone should have done the DD.

Due diligence can and should be done before investing in any company at any time, public or private. While any discovered fraud on the part of Nikola will be punished by the SEC and law enforcement, investors need to take personal responsibility for where they put their money (i.e. performing their own DD).

Discovering that Milton hired his brother whose previous experience was paving driveways, or that the chief engineer has no relevant prior experience isn't even deep DD. We shouldn't be playing the violins for retail investors on this one.