Oneida Air Mini Gorilla tripping breaker- help

[Randy Hermann]

Oneida has been great and sent out a new motor unit. Either two bad units or the problem is somewhere on my end, and that's where I am looking more now.

12G wire, approximately 30'. No visible/obvious damage to wire sheath.
Leviton duplex 20A outlet. Wiring triple checked and is okay visually, tug-test, and per meter
3' "downstream" is a ceiling mount LED bulb on a pullstring. Keeping the light turned off does not fix the problem. Fixture wiring triple checked and is okay visually, tug-test, and per meter.
Breaker is Square-D HOM HACR 20A, single pole, new, and tested in multiple breaker box locations. White wire is to ground bar, black to breaker. Solid connections.

The breaker seems to trip about every third COLD start. Never twice in a row. Never once the unit has been running and is re-started.

I'm down to three options, I think. Please let me know if there are others.
1) Faulty wire. Easy enough to replace but seems REALLY unlikely, doesn't it?
2) Faulty outlet
3) Faulty light socket.

I guess I'll replace the outlet first, cheapest and easiest.

Love to hear some other ideas as I am at a loss.

Separately, now I feel incredibly guilty that Oneida has this expense even though they were stumped too. How do I make it up to them?

Thanks,
Randy