Bannon surrenders to federal prison to serve 4-month sentence on contempt charges

DANBURY, Conn. (AP) — Longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon has been taken into custody after surrendering at a federal prison to begin a four-month sentence on contempt charges for defying a subpoena in the congressional investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack. A judge had allowed Bannon to stay free for nearly two years while he appealed. But the judge ordered him to report to prison Monday after an appeals court panel upheld his contempt of Congress convictions. The Supreme Court rejected his emergency appeal to stave off the sentence. Bannon’s appeal will continue to play out, and Republican House leaders have put their support behind stepping in to assert the Jan. 6 committee was improperly created.

Karen Read murder case ends in a mistrial

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — Prosecutors say they intend to retry Karen Read on charges that she killed her Boston police officer boyfriend by striking him with her SUV. The judge declared a mistrial Monday after jurors were unable to reach a verdict following a two-month trial. Read had been charged with second-degree murder in the 2022 death of Officer John O’Keefe. The 16-year member of the Boston police was found unresponsive outside the Canton home of another officer. An autopsy found O’Keefe died of hypothermia and blunt force trauma. Defense attorneys argued police framed Read.

Appeals court allows part of Biden student loan repayment plan to go forward

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court has allowed the U.S. Education Department to move ahead with a plan to lower monthly payments for millions of student loan borrowers, putting on hold a ruling last week by a lower court. The ruling from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals puts back on track a central part of President Joe Biden’s efforts to address student debt — a rule that lowers from 10% of discretionary income to 5% the amount that some borrowers qualifying for a repayment plan need to pay. The reduced payment threshold was set to take effect July 1, but federal judges in Kansas and Missouri last week blocked much of the administration’s student loan repayment plan in two separate rulings. The ruling on Sunday means the department can move ahead with the reduced payments already calculated while it pursues an appeal.

Florida prosecutors knew Epstein raped teenage girls 2 years before cutting deal, transcript shows

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida judge has released transcripts of a detailing 2006 grand jury testimony that accused the late millionaire and financier Jeffrey Epstein of sexually assaulting numerous underage teenage girls at his Palm Beach mansion. A circuit judge’s release Monday afternoon of the approximately 150 pages came as a surprise as there’s a scheduled hearing for next week on when and how to release them. Gov. Ron DeSantis had signed a bill in February allowing their release on Monday or any time thereafter that the judge ordered. One girl testified that she was paid $300 to give Epstein a sexual massage and $200 every time she recruited a friend.