CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Jasiel Correia II, the 26-year-old Democratic mayor of Fall River, was charged Thursday with defrauding investors in his company of hundreds of thousands of dollars in order to finance a “lavish lifestyle” that included a Mercedes-Benz, designer clothing and adult entertainment.

Before the Hartford Reentry Welcome Center opened, people in the city fresh out of prison didn’t have one central place where they could find housing, counseling or even a clean, safe place to use the bathroom. Now, they do. The center - located in City Hall -  is a partnership between Community Partners in Action, the City of Hartford, the Department of Corrections and more than 40 local organizations.

Updated at 5:37 p.m. ET

Attorney General Jeff Sessions answered needling by President Trump on Thursday with a vow that as long as he runs the Justice Department, it won't be swayed by politics.

Sessions' statement was a rare broadside in response to TV and Twitter criticism by Trump of the department, which he and supporters accuse of perpetuating a "witch hunt" in the Russia investigation and going soft on Democrats.