US

Panel investigating January 6th Capitol riot postpones hearing

Committee member says Wednesday’s event delayed to give technical staff more time to prepare

A video of Matt Morgan, former general counsel with the Trump campaign, is shown on a screen at the House select committee tasked with investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol. Photograph: Jabin Botsford/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Tue Jun 14 2022 - 15:49

The House of Representatives committee investigating the January 6th, 2021, attack on the US Capitol said on Tuesday it had postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday but would go ahead with one set for Thursday.

A statement by the Democrat-led select committee did not provide a reason for the postponement. Committee spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren, a committee member, said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program that the delay was intended to give the panel's technical staff more time to prepare the multimedia presentation.

“Putting together the video and exhibits is an exhausting exercise for our very small video staff,” Ms Lofgren said, noting the original schedule had been to hold three public hearings in one week.

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“So we’re trying to give them a little room to do their technical work,” Ms Lofgren said.

The committee had scheduled six public hearings this month to discuss results of its nearly year-long investigation into the events surrounding the attack on the Capitol by thousands of supporters of former president Donald Trump as politicians met to formally certify his 2020 election defeat by Democrat Joe Biden.

Wednesday’s hearing was to have focused on Mr Trump’s efforts to replace the US attorney general in order to assemble a team at the justice department to promote his false claims that his loss was due to widespread voting fraud.

Jeffrey Rosen, then the acting attorney general, was among those scheduled to testify.

At Monday’s hearing — the second of the expected six — the committee showed video testimony by top Trump advisers saying they told him his fraud claims were unfounded and would not change the result, but he disregarded them.

Mr Trump, who has denied wrongdoing, issued a 12-page statement after the hearing criticising the committee and reiterating his fraud claims. Mr Trump also sent out several fundraising emails making many of the same claims. During the hearing, the committee said Mr Trump has raised some $250 million while making those claims. — Reuters

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