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☆ Energy Department Commits $3 Billion to Expand Rooftop Solar Access
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Amrith Ramkumar | Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Illustration: Preston Jessee/WSJThe Energy Department will guarantee up to $3 billion in debt securities issued to fund rooftop solar installations, hoping to expand access to renewable energy by making the deal a no-lose proposition for many investors. The backstop is part of the Biden administration’s green financing effort, which includes hundreds of billions of dollars in tax credits and loans for clean energy, climate tech startups and other green businesses.

☆ Lithium Prices Are Down, Cheaper Batteries and EVs Could Follow
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Scott Patterson | Amrith Ramkumar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Lithium prices are reversing after a two-year tear, a potential boost for consumers and auto makers that got hit by rising battery costs last year. Prices for lithium are down more than 30% this year, ending the two-year run that pushed up the value of the key battery material by a factor of 12, according to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence. The drop takes prices back to more sustainable levels after their epic run, traders say.

☆ E-Bike Battery Fires Are Soaring, Especially in New York
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The electric-bike craze, which took off during Covid-19 lockdowns, now has a dark side: uncontrollable and deadly fires from the lithium-ion batteries that power them. The number of blazes is rising rapidly, triggering warnings from fire officials. The fires appear to be concentrated in New York City, where the number of blazes more than doubled last year to 216, according to the New York City Fire Department. Fires from e-bikes and other so-called micromobility devices such as electric scooters have injured 40 people and killed two this year, the fire department said.

☆ Shift to Mined vs. Man-Made Graphite Raises Shortage Risk for EVs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Scott Patterson | Amrith Ramkumar | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rising demand for batteries is expected to fuel a shortage of graphite in the coming years. Mining companies are ramping up supplies of critical minerals for rechargeable batteries such as lithium, cobalt and nickel. Graphite, a key battery component, has largely been overlooked. Some of the world’s biggest auto and battery makers and the U.S. government are racing to secure graphite supplies amid looming signs of shortages of the mineral suitable for batteries. So far graphite prices haven’t reflected the tight supply.

☆ Biden Marks Second Anniversary of Jan. 6 Capitol Attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Annie Linskey | Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—President Biden commemorated the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot by giving medals to law-enforcement officers who protected lawmakers that day and election officials who resisted efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential contest. “What you did was truly consequential,” Mr. Biden said during an afternoon ceremony in the White House’s East Room.

☆ Biden to Mark Second Anniversary of Jan. 6 Capitol Attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Annie Linskey | Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—President Biden plans to commemorate the second anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot by giving medals to law-enforcement officers who protected lawmakers that day and election officials who resisted efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential contest. Recipients are to include former Arizona House Speaker Russell “Rusty” Bowers , a Republican who lost his seat in an August primary after resisting pressure from President Donald Trump to hold a hearing in the state that could have led to changing election results. Mr. Biden also plans to posthumously recognize Brian Sicknick , a Capitol Police officer who died the day after the attack.

☆ Jan. 6 Focus Shifts to Justice Department as House Panel’s Work Ends
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Scott Patterson | Sadie Gurman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Justice Department had no comment on the Jan. 6 panel’s final report, but the 845-page document could provide a road map for aspects of its probe. WASHINGTON—With the publication late Thursday of the House’s Jan. 6 select committee’s final report and the panel disbanding, the spotlight returns to the Justice Department and its efforts to investigate and potentially prosecute allies of Donald Trump and the former president himself. Federal prosecutors’ separate sprawling probe is covering similar ground and, senior department officials say, is unlikely to be directly influenced by the report or other actions on Capitol Hill. But the 845-page document could provide a road map for aspects of the probe, including into Trump allies’ efforts to undo the 2020 results by sending false electoral certificates to Congress and the National Archives.

☆ Cassidy Hutchinson Said Trump Allies Urged Her to Limit Jan. 6 Testimony
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The Jan. 6 select committee released a transcript of oral testimony from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson pointing to efforts by lawyers and others in former President Donald Trump’s orbit to urge her to protect Mr. Trump in her testimony before the committee. Ms. Hutchinson, an aide to Mr. Trump’s last White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows , had dismissed her first lawyer, Stefan Passantino, by the time she provided some of the most dramatic live testimony before the committee in June, when she said she was told that Mr. Trump wanted to be driven to the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and wrestled for the steering wheel with the Secret Service when his order was refused.

☆ Trump Allies Urged Her to Limit Testimony, Cassidy Hutchinson Told Jan. 6 Committee
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Jan. 6 Committee Releases Final Investigative Report on Capitol Attack
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The House’s Jan. 6 select committee released its final investigative report Thursday, a sprawling capstone of more than 800 pages to the panel’s 18-month probe into the violent attack on the Capitol by a mob of supporters of former President Donald Trump. The report covers the full sweep of the committee’s findings from its investigation of the attempt by Mr. Trump and his allies to reverse the 2020 election. It was released three days after the nine-member panel voted, at its final meeting, to refer the former president to the Justice Department for potential criminal charges.

☆ Jan. 6 Panel to Vote on Criminal Referrals, Release Summary of Report
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The Jan. 6 House committee, composed of seven Democrats and two Republicans, is expected to release the final report on its investigation later in the week. WASHINGTON—The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol is expected to release a summary of its report Monday and vote on potential criminal referrals to the Justice Department for former President Donald Trump and some of his allies. A committee aide said the panel is expected to release certain materials, including an executive summary of the report, details on referrals and information about witnesses who have appeared before the select committee.

☆ Jan. 6 Committee Votes to Refer Trump to Justice Department for Criminal Charges
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol voted to refer former President Donald Trump to the Justice Department for four potential criminal charges, culminating its 18-month probe. Key findings in the committee’s investigation include allegations that Mr. Trump disseminated false allegations of fraud related to the 2020 election, provoking his supporters to violence on Jan. 6, according to the executive summary, which the committee released following the Monday meeting.

☆ Jan. 6 Hearings: What We’ve Seen and What’s Next
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol held a series of nine public hearings over the summer and fall and a final public meeting on Monday. The hearings aim to show that former President Donald Trump set the stage for his supporters’ riot by making baseless allegations of election fraud and trying to pressure federal and state officials to stop President Biden’s win. Mr. Trump has said he did nothing wrong and continues to make his unsubstantiated claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

☆ Jan. 6 Committee Considers Criminal Referrals for Donald Trump, Allies
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol is expected to vote Monday on potential criminal referrals to the Justice Department for former President Donald Trump and some of his allies, related to an attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. The vote will amount to one of the final acts of the committee. Over nine previous public hearings this year it laid out its case that Mr. Trump launched a campaign to reverse the election results and, in his efforts, summoned supporters to Washington and incited them to storm the Capitol. The hearings featured new disclosures and allegations regarding Mr. Trump’s efforts to pressure state and government officials to help keep him in power, as well as witness testimony, often from senior Republicans and top officials from his own administration, about his actions on the day of the riot.

☆ Jan. 6 Committee Plans Criminal Referrals, Chairman Says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol plans to recommend that the Justice Department make criminal charges tied to the assault, according to panel Chairman Bennie Thompson (D., Miss.). Mr. Thompson, speaking to reporters at the Capitol on Tuesday, said a formal decision hadn’t yet been made, and that the committee hadn’t decided on a range of details surrounding the referral, including whom it planned to refer and whether the referrals would include former President Donald Trump.

☆ Jan. 6 Committee Prepares Final Report, Possible Criminal Referrals
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In nine public hearings, the House committee pressed the case that Donald Trump was at the center of an effort to reverse the 2020 election results. WASHINGTON—The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol is racing to finalize its long-awaited report, which it expects to release to the public in December, and make decisions about possible recommendations of criminal charges to the Justice Department. The report, based on more than 1,000 interviews, extensive videos of the attack and millions of documents, will be the final summation of the committee’s year-and-a-half investigation, and could include a criminal referral to the Justice Department for former President Donald Trump and allies of his who aided his attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election result, committee members have said.

☆ Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenas Former President Donald Trump
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-21 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot issued a subpoena to Donald Trump on Friday, setting the stage for a tense standoff between lawmakers and the former president. The subpoena requested that Mr. Trump appear on Nov. 14 for deposition testimony in Washington or by videoconference, and for the production of documents by Nov. 4.

☆ Jan. 6 Panel’s Subpoena of Trump Raises the Stakes of the Hearings
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-16 | by ( Miguel Gonzalez | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Welcome to a special edition of WSJ’s politics newsletter looking at the latest hearing by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. To receive our weekday edition and future special editions, sign up here. Three Questions for WSJ’s Scott PattersonWSJ: What did we learn from Thursday’s House select committee hearing?

☆ House Jan. 6 Committee Hearing to Feature New Video Testimony, No Live Witnesses
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—House lawmakers plan a wide-ranging look Thursday at former President Donald Trump’s efforts to reverse the 2020 election results, in what could be the final public hearing of the select committee investigating the Capitol riot before the midterm elections. The committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol will focus its hearing, which starts at 1 p.m. EDT, on Mr. Trump’s state of mind, committee aides said. The panel will also examine “ongoing threats to democracy that persist to this day,” a committee aide said.

☆ Jan. 6 Committee Votes to Subpoena Donald Trump
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol voted Thursday to issue a subpoena to former President Donald Trump for testimony and documents, a move that marked a significant escalation of the panel’s probe. “We want to hear from him,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D., Miss. ), chairman of the committee, said in closing remarks, referring to Mr. Trump. “It is our obligation to seek Donald Trump’s testimony…A subpoena to a former president is a serious and extraordinary action.”

☆ Trump’s State of Mind to Be Focus of Jan. 6 Committee Hearing
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The House select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, will focus its hearing Thursday on former President Donald Trump’s state of mind as the panel begins to make its closing argument that he orchestrated a wide-ranging attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, committee aides said. Since its most recent hearing in late July, the panel has received thousands of documents from the Secret Service and interviewed new witnesses, including several members of Mr. Trump’s cabinet. Documentary evidence will include information from hundreds of thousands of pages the Secret Service presented to the committee after it subpoenaed the agency in July, according to committee aides.

☆ Jan. 6 Hearings: What New Details Have Emerged on Donald Trump, Capitol Riot
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—As the hearings on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot wind down and the House select committee investigating the violence and former President Donald Trump’s actions turns toward writing a final report, here is a look at some of the most significant disclosures and allegations. The summer hearings featured testimony from mostly top Republican officials in federal and state governments, and in Mr. Trump’s own administration, who told the committee about a campaign by the former president to pressure them to reverse election results. While some evidence of the efforts to overturn the election was known before the hearings, the testimony included new details about the extent of the effort and how members of his own cabinet believed Mr. Trump had lost the election to Democrat Joe Biden but struggled to convince him.

☆ Jan. 6 Committee Hearings Enter Final Phase Wednesday
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Scott Patterson | Sadie Gurman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol is set to reconvene its next live hearing Wednesday, putting the finishing touches on its case that former President Donald Trump was at the center of a plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Since its last hearing in late July, the panel has continued to interview witnesses, collect documents and seek out new evidence about the months-long effort to overturn the election. Committee members said that as the eight summer hearings were wrapping up, new witnesses were coming forward to provide information.

☆ Jan. 6 Hearings: What We’ve Seen So Far and What’s Next
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol plans a ninth hearing Wednesday after holding a series of eight public hearings over the summer. The hearings aim to show that former President Donald Trump set the stage for his supporters’ riot by making baseless allegations of election fraud and trying to pressure federal and state officials to stop President Biden’s win. Mr. Trump has said he did nothing wrong and continues to make his unsubstantiated claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

☆ House Approves Electoral Count Act Overhaul as Senate Weighs Own Changes
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Lindsay Wise | Scott Patterson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—The House passed legislation Wednesday that would overhaul the way Congress counts and ratifies presidential elector votes, responding to efforts by former President Donald Trump and his supporters to try to overturn the 2020 election results. The 229-203 vote in favor of the Presidential Election Reform Act in the House will set up a showdown with the Senate, where a bipartisan group of lawmakers has proposed a similar bill to overhaul the 1887 Electoral Count Act, albeit with some key differences. The Senate legislation already has public support from 10 Republican senators, enough to overcome the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster threshold, if all 50 members of the Democratic caucus vote yes.

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