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U.S. Sen. Jim Justice of West Virginia has agreed to pay nearly $5.2 million in overdue personal taxes. An attorney for Justice and his wife, Cathy, entered into a joint motion with the federal government in a court filing Monday, the same day that the government filed a lawsuit seeking payment for the taxes dating to 2009. A Republican, Justice was elected last November to the seat vacated by Joe Manchin. Justice is a former two-term governor who owns dozens of businesses. Forbes magazine estimated that Justice's fortune was at $1.9 billion last decade but that his net worth has since disintegrated to ā€œless than zero.ā€

The clock is ticking for the U.S. government to open up its files on Jeffrey Epstein. After months of rancor and recriminations, Congress has passed and President Donald Trump has signed legislation compelling the Justice Department to give the public everything it has on Epstein ā€”Ā and it has to be done before Christmas. But even that might not be enough for the curious and the conspiracy minded. While thereā€™s sure to be never-before-seen material in the thousands of pages likely to be released, a lot of Epstein-related records have already been made public, including by Congress and through litigation.

The Justice Department is examining the handling of the mortgage fraud investigation into Sen. Adam Schiff. That's according to a document reviewed by The Associated Press. Authorities are scrutinizing the potential involvement of people who claimed to be acting at the behest or direction of two Trump administration officials who've pushed the probe of the California Democrat. Officials involved in the Schiff investigation in Maryland have interviewed a Republican congressional candidate who has promoted the mortgage fraud allegations against Schiff. The development is likely to bring fresh scrutiny to the already criticized efforts by the two administration officials, Bill Pulte and Ed Martin, to investigate Trump political foes for mortgage fraud.