Tuesday briefing: Jan. 6 committee’s criminal referrals for Trump; winter storm; Harvey Weinstein; ‘Titanic’ study; and more
2 years ago
Good Tuesday #GoodTuesday
(Jordan Robertson for The Washington Post) 1
The Jan. 6 panel said Donald Trump should be charged with four crimes.
What crimes? Inciting or assisting an insurrection, among others. The House panel formally referred the former president to the Justice Department yesterday.
What this means: It’s an unprecedented move but has no legal weight. It’s up to the Justice Department to decide what, if any, charges to bring.
What else to know: The committee’s investigation into the 2021 attack on the Capitol is about to wrap up. Its final report should come out tomorrow.
2
A massive storm is expected to hit the U.S. before Christmas.
What to know: Storm watches have been issued for more than 32 million people from Kansas to Wisconsin so far.
The forecast: The storm will probably start in the Midwest on Thursday and turn into a blizzard in some areas that night. If you’re traveling this week, this could cause chaos.
3
U.S. lawmakers announced a $1.7 trillion deal to fund the government.
What to know: Congress has until the end of Friday to approve the deal or federal funds will run out, triggering a shutdown.
Will it pass? It should. The package, unveiled early this morning, was negotiated by both Democrats and Republicans.
What’s inside? Proposals to extend some Medicaid benefits, help Americans save for retirement, change the way the U.S. counts presidential electoral votes and more.
4
Harvey Weinstein was found guilty of rape in his second criminal trial.
What to know: The former Hollywood producer, already serving a 23-year prison sentence, faces a further sentence of up to 24 years after yesterday’s verdict in Los Angeles.
Why it matters: The allegations against Weinstein, 70, sparked a surge in the #MeToo movement in 2017. He is one of the few high-profile accused figures to face legal repercussions.
5
Sam Bankman-Fried will return to the U.S. to face charges.
Who is he? The 30-year-old founder of FTX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges before it collapsed last month. He was charged last week with defrauding customers.
What’s new? Bankman-Fried yesterday agreed to be extradited from the Bahamas, which could speed up the cases against him.
6
There’s a bottleneck blocking clean energy for millions of people.
What’s going on? Energy developers want to build a ton of wind and solar facilities, but it’s taking longer and longer to get the okay from authorities to connect to the power grid.
That’s a problem: The U.S. aims to shift 80% of its electricity away from fossil fuels by 2030, but these roadblocks are slowing that transition.
7
The “Titanic” director paid for a study about that infuriating raft scene.
Why? There’s debate over whether both of the 1997 movie’s main characters, Jack and Rose, could have survived the shipwreck using their makeshift raft.
The result: The study, using stunt people and hypothermia experts, showed only one of them could have lived. Is that the last word? James Cameron hopes so.
And now … if you need to find last-minute gifts: Here’s how to nail holiday shopping at airports and gas stations. Plus, digital presents that are actually good.
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