DOJ renews bid to unseal Epstein and Maxwell grand jury materials

NEW YORK (AP) — The Justice Department has renewed its request to unseal transcripts of grand jury proceedings that led to sex trafficking charges against Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. In a court filing Monday, federal prosecutors argued that the materials should be made public under a new law requiring the government to release its files on the late financier and his longtime confidante. Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton cited the Epstein Files Transparency Act, signed into law last week by President Donald Trump, in court filings asking federal judges to reconsider their prior decisions to keep the material sealed. A judge later Monday directed additional filings in the case be made by Dec. 10, with a ruling to quickly follow.

Pentagon says it’s investigating Sen. Mark Kelly over video urging troops to defy ‘illegal orders’

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon says that it is investigating Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over possible breaches of military law after Kelly joined a handful of other lawmakers in a video that called for U.S. troops to refuse unlawful orders. The Pentagon’s statement, which was posted on social media on Monday, cited a federal law that allows retired servicemembers to be recalled to active duty on orders of the defense secretary for possible court-martial or other measures. Kelly served in the U.S. Navy as a fighter pilot before going on to become an astronaut. He retired at the rank of captain. It is extraordinary for the Pentagon to directly threaten a sitting member of Congress with investigation.

Woman in 2014 Slender Man stabbing found a day after walking away from group home

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The search for a missing Wisconsin woman who almost killed her sixth-grade classmate more than a decade ago to please horror character Slender Man ended Sunday night when police discovered her sleeping outside an Illinois truck stop.Morgan Geyser, 23, was found at a truck stop in Posen, Illinois, police said early Monday. The Madison Police Department said Sunday that Geyser had cut off her electronic monitoring device and left her group home on the capital city’s west side. She was last seen around 8 p.m. Saturday with an adult acquaintance, the department said. Geyser was found with a 42-year-old man who was charged with criminal trespassing and obstructing identification, Posen police said.

One of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre’s last survivors, Viola Ford Fletcher, dies at 111

DALLAS (AP) — One of the last known survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in Oklahoma has died. Viola Ford Fletcher was 111. Her grandson, Ike Howard, said Monday that she died surrounded by family at a Tulsa hospital. In recent years, she had sought justice for the deadly attack by a white mob on the thriving Black community where she had lived as a child. Sustained by a strong faith, she raised three children, worked as a welder in a shipyard during World War II and spent decades caring for families as a housekeeper. She was 7 when the two-day attack began on the prosperous area that was known as Black Wall Street.