Trump commutes sentence of Ozy Media co-founder

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.>> President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of Ozy Media co-founder Carlos Watson, a White House official said Friday, just before Watson was due to report to prison for a nearly 10-year sentence in a financial conspiracy case.

Watson was convicted last year in a closely watched case that showcased the implosion of an ambitious startup company at a time of turmoil in the media industry. He had been ordered to surrender to prison Friday.

Watson’s commutation was among a string of other acts of clemency revealed by the White House on Friday. They included three entrepreneurs who founded and helped run the cryptocurrency exchange BITMEX, which was ordered to pay a $100 million fine this year after prosecutors said it “willfully flouted” U.S. money-laundering laws to boost revenue. They had been sentenced to probation and also were pardoned.

Fewer Americans now see Canada as close U.S. ally

WASHINGTON>> Americans are less likely to see Canada and the U.S. as close allies than they were two years ago, the latest indication that President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and talk of taking over a neighboring ally are souring a critical economic and military relationship.

The U.S. shift in viewpoint comes primarily from Democrats, although Republicans are less likely to see Canada as America’s ally now, too, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Although about seven in 10 Democrats saw Canada and the U.S. as close allies before Trump returned to office, now that number is down to about half. For Republicans, the number dropped from 55% to 44%.

Although most still see the countries’ relationship as at least “friendly,” just under half of U.S. adults now consider the U.S. to be “close allies” with its neighbor to the north. That’s down from about six in 10 in a Pearson Institute/AP-NORC poll conducted in September 2023.

Attorney general sues Musk to block $1M checks to voters

MADISON, Wis.>> The state’s Democratic attorney general asked a court Friday to block billionaire Elon Musk from handing out $1 million checks to voters this weekend, just days before the state’s hotly contested Supreme Court race was to be decided.

Attorney General Josh Kaul filed the lawsuit in county circuit court to stop Musk from making the payments, which he said he would make Sunday in Wisconsin.

Musk initially said in a post on his social media platform, X, that he planned to “personally hand over” $2 million to a pair of voters who have cast their ballots in the race.

Musk later posted a clarification, saying the money will go to people who will be “spokesmen” for a petition against “activist” judges. After first saying the event would be open only to people who had voted in the Supreme Court race, he said attendance would be limited to those who have signed the petition.

FCC commissioner opens probe into Disney, ABC

President Donald Trump’s FCC commissioner said Friday he’s opening an investigation into the Walt Disney Co. and its ABC television network to see whether they are “promoting invidious forms of DEI discrimination.”

FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr announced the probe in a letter to Disney CEO Robert Iger on Friday. The company said it was reviewing the letter and looking forward to answering the commission’s questions.

The new administration has taken an aggressive posture toward the media on several fronts. Just this week, there were court hearings on the shutdown of Voice of America and the president’s dispute with The Associated Press over how the news agency refers to the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump has ordered renamed the Gulf of America.

— Denver Post wire services