10 things you need to know today: June 9, 2022

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1. Jan. 6 public hearings begin Thursday night
2. House passes gun control package, though Senate odds are slim
3. Armed man arrested near Kavanaugh's home, charged with attempted murder
4. Steve Bannon subpoenas Pelosi, members of Jan. 6 committee
5. 11-year-old Uvalde survivor testifies before Congress
6. Twitter to reportedly turn 'firehose' of data over to Musk
7. Abbott Nutrition reportedly warned about Michigan plant earlier than known
8. Brookings Institution suspends president amid Qatar lobbying probe
9. Simone Biles and other Larry Nassar abuse victims sue FBI for $1 billion
10. 'Joker' sequel in the works with Joaquin Phoenix expected to return

published 9 June 2022

1. Jan. 6 public hearings begin Thursday night

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot will hold its first of six televised hearings on Thursday night, revealing at long last to the American public what was uncovered over the course of its investigation. The panel has said it will use a combination of witnesses and exhibits to illustrate the full extent of the riot, and has promised to reveal never-before-seen material. The event will show a "multi-pronged effort to overturn a presidential election," committee member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Wednesday. Proceedings will begin at 8 p.m. ET.

The House passed gun legislation on Wednesday evening that would raise the age limit for purchasing a semiautomatic rifle to 21 and ban the sale of magazines with a capacity of more than 15 rounds. The vote was 223 to 204, falling mostly along party lines. The legislation is not expected to pass in the evenly divided Senate, however, where a bipartisan group of senators is working on a more moderate agreement that focuses on background checks, school security, and mental health programs.

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An armed 26-year-old man was arrested and later charged with attempted murder on Wednesday after showing up outside Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's home and making threats against him, authorities said. The man, identified as Nicholas John Roske, was carrying a gun, a knife, pepper spray, zip ties, and a variety of household tools when he was arrested, the Justice Department said. Agents first noticed the man outside Kavanaugh's house at 1:05 a.m. on Wednesday, before he walked away and called the Montgomery County Emergency Communications Center. Roske told the 911 operator he was having suicidal thoughts and planned to kill Kavanaugh with the gun he had in his suitcase. He was arrested while still on the call, and later made an initial appearance that afternoon before a Maryland judge.

Lawyers for Steve Bannon, a former adviser to former President Donald Trump, have "revenge subpoenaed" the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, as well House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Bannon was indicted last year on contempt of Congress charges for refusing to cooperate with a subpoena from the committee. Now, as his July trial approaches, Bannon is looking to challenge the validity of the panel's formation. Three committee staffers, House general counsel Douglas Letter, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), and Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) were also subpoenaed alongside all nine committee members and Pelosi.

A fourth-grade student who survived the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas testified before Congress on Wednesday as part of a House Oversight Committee hearing on gun violence. In a pre-recorded video played before the committee, 11-year-old Miah Cerrillo spoke of how she covered herself in her friend's blood to trick the shooter and watched as he told her teacher "good night and shot her in the head." The hearing also featured testimony from a number of other victims and survivors, including Felix and Kimberly Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was killed in the Uvalde shooting, and Zeneta Everhart, the mother of one of the people wounded in the Buffalo supermarket shooting.

Social media giant Twitter reportedly plans to hand over to Elon Musk its "firehose" of data to move along the Tesla CEO's $44 billion acquisition of the company. Musk has contended that without information on the platform's fake accounts, the deal cannot go forward. Whether the billionaire will now get full or partial access to the firehose — a millions-deep trove of daily tweet data — is currently unclear, but Twitter's disclosure will complicate any attempt by Musk to be released from the deal.

Abbott Nutrition, whose shuttering of its Michigan manufacturing plant contributed in large part to the nationwide baby formula shortage, was alerted of problems at the Sturgis plant months earlier than was previously publicly known, a government official and a source familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal. "We know there have been various questions about the timeline of events leading up to the FDA's warning and Abbott's recall of products manufactured at their Sturgis facility," an FDA spokesperson said. "Our top priority right now is addressing the dire need for infant formula in the U.S. market, and our teams are working day and night to make that happen."

The prestigious Brookings Institution on Wednesday placed its president, retired four-star Gen. John Allen, on administrative leave during a federal investigation of an illegal lobbying campaign on behalf of Qatar. The FBI has said there is "substantial evidence" Allen knowingly violated federal foreign lobbying laws, made false statements, and withheld "incriminating" documents. Allen, a former Marine general who led U.S. combat forces in Afghanistan before being named Brookings president in late 2017, has not been charged with any crimes and has denied all wrongdoing. The think tank itself is not subject to the investigation, Brookings told its staff.

Simone Biles and other U.S. gymnasts who say they were sexually abused by former Team USA gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar are suing the FBI for $1 billion over its mishandling of the case. More than 90 of Nassar's alleged sexual assault victims are filing lawsuits against the FBI for failing to act against Nassar after learning about abuse allegations against him. In 2021, a Justice Department inspector general found the FBI made a number of errors in the case, and failed to respond to the abuse allegations with the urgency they warranted. "It is time for the FBI to be held accountable," said former Team USA gymnast Maggie Nichols.

A follow-up to 2019's Joker is officially in the works, director Todd Phillips has revealed. Phillips shared a photo of the script on Instagram, bearing the title Joker: Folie à deux. He also included a photo of star Joaquin Phoenix reading the screenplay, implying he'll return — though apparently Phoenix's deal isn't yet final. The original Joker, which told the origin story of the iconic Batman villain, was a surprisingly huge hit for DC. Despite being a dark character study, it earned over $1 billion at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. It also won two Oscars, with Phoenix taking the Academy Award for Best Actor.

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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.