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The Lawlessness Continues...this time in the shadows [1]

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Date: 2025-03-29

..Also this week, Trump pardoned the three founders of the cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, who had pleaded guilty in 2022 to violations of the bank secrecy act, one of the people familiar with the matter said, as well as Trevor Milton, who was convicted by a federal jury in 2022 of defrauding investors in the electric truck maker Nikola.

But, more specifically, in yet another brazen abuse of power, besides picking up kidnapping grad students with unmarked vans and masked federal agents, ostensibly for writing a critical op-ed in a student newspaper, Trump quietly erased Carlos Watson’s nearly 10-year prison sentence on the very day the disgraced Ozy Media co-founder was supposed to report to prison. The move, made without explanation or public scrutiny, is just the latest example of Trump’s willingness to undermine the justice system to benefit the well-connected.

Ozy Media was founded in 2013, luring investors with promises of groundbreaking digital media ventures. The company rode the wave of investment that also fueled BuzzFeed and Vice, but like those ventures, it ultimately failed to deliver. Unlike the others, though, Ozy’s collapse came with outright deception.

In a case that long pre-dates Trump’s return to power, Watson had been convicted last summer of defrauding investors and lenders by fabricating Ozy’s financial health. A jury found both him and the company guilty of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud, along with identity theft. Over a two-month trial, prosecutors exposed damning evidence: forged contracts, deceptive financial claims, and a scheme where Watson’s business partner impersonated a YouTube executive to mislead Goldman Sachs.

A federal judge had ordered Watson and Ozy to pay $96 million in restitution and forfeiture—penalties that, thanks to Trump’s intervention, have now vanished into thin air.

Despite being found guilty in a court of law, Watson never admitted wrongdoing, insisting on his innocence until the very end.

Throughout his legal battle, the defendant attempted to shift blame, claiming his misleading statements were simply "good-faith" assessments and pointing fingers at former employees. (Sounds a lot like Trump, no?) When he took the stand, he painted himself as the leader of a “scrappy young company” rather than someone orchestrating an elaborate financial scam. (Again, how Trump-y of him)

At his sentencing in December, Watson attempted to deflect responsibility once again, arguing that he had been selectively prosecuted because he is Black.

Meanwhile, his former business partner Samir Rao and ex-chief of staff Suzee Han both pleaded guilty in 2023 and testified against him, making clear that Watson had been at the center of the fraud.

The case largely hinged on a 2021 fundraising call where Rao, following a script allegedly provided by Watson, impersonated a YouTube executive to deceive Goldman Sachs. Prosecutors pointed to text messages from Watson directing the scheme—an allegation he, of course, denied.

Testimony also revealed that Watson had deliberately inflated Ozy’s revenue and fabricated high-profile investment commitments from figures like Oprah Winfrey and Live Nation to string investors along.

While Trump loudly touts his executive orders against government agencies, this quiet, backroom deal tells a different story—one of corruption, cronyism, and outright contempt for the rule of law. By overturning the verdict of a jury trial with the stroke of a pen, Trump isn’t just helping a convicted fraudster; he’s sending a clear message that accountability is optional for those in his orbit. I expect, given an appropriate amount of time, Carlos Watson will re-appear as a Trump flunky in some media-related position, either for the Government, or maybe to proselytize other Trump business ventures, before this four-year term is finished. The justice system may work for ordinary Americans, but for the wealthy and well-connected, it seems Trump is willing to rewrite the rules...for ‘only the best people’.

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