U.S. congressional Jan. 6 panel postpones hearing on Trump's Justice Dept

[June 15, 2022]  By Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan
 
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The House of Representatives committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on U.S. Capitol said on Tuesday it had postponed a hearing scheduled with officials from ex-President Donald Trump's Justice Department but would go ahead with one set for Thursday focused on ex-Vice President Mike Pence. 

Former Fox News politics editor Chris Stirewalt is sworn in as Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., Vice Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., watch from the dais as the House select committee tasked with investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol hold a hearing on Capitol Hill, in Washington, U.S. June 13, 2022. Jabin Botsford/Pool via REUTERS

The committee said its hearing Thursday would present testimony illustrating how Trump put pressure to refuse to count votes on his vice president, Mike Pence, on and before Jan. 6.

"As a federal judge has indicated, this likely violated two federal criminal statues," Representative Liz Cheney, the panel's vice chairperson, said in a video statement released on Twitter on Tuesday.

Thousands of Trump supporters marched on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, after listening to Trump's fiery speech repeating his unfounded claim that his defeat in the November 2020 election by Democrat Joe Biden was the result of fraud.

The Democratic-led House Select Committee earlier on Tuesday announced the postponement of Wednesday's hearing, without providing a reason for the change.

The committee had scheduled six public hearings this month to discuss results of its nearly year-long investigation into events surrounding the attack, which took place as Pence and lawmakers met to formally certify Biden's victory.

Wednesday's hearing was to have focused on Trump's efforts to assemble a team at the Justice Department to promote his false voter fraud claims. Jeffrey Rosen, a former acting attorney general, was among those scheduled to testify.

At a hearing on Monday, the committee focused on Trump's claims of election fraud and showed video testimony by top Trump advisers that they told him his fraud claims were unfounded, but he disregarded them.

Trump has denied wrongdoing. He issued a 12-page statement after the hearing criticizing the committee and reiterating his fraud claims.

Committee members said they expected the postponed hearing would take place shortly. Republican Representative Adam Kinzinger told reporters it had been moved to next week. Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin said he was confident the series of hearings would be completed this month.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Richard Cowan, additional reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Will Dunham, Paul Grant and Aurora Ellis)

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