The Jan. 6 committee announced Tuesday that it would delay its Wednesday, June 15 hearing in order to give staff additional time to prepare the necessary materials girding its public presentation of their probe into former President Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a California Democrat and member of the committee, told reporters Tuesday that the decision wasn’t based on anything nefarious, nor was it a “big deal.” The committee was just “firming up” video exhibits, a practice Lofgren described as an “exhaustive exercise.”
“It’s just technical issues,” Lofgren told MSNBC.
With Monday’s hearing in the rearview already and one still on the books for Thursday, June 16 at 1 p.m. ET, the committee’s decision to postpone the June 15 hearing was also based on wanting to keep the committee’s staff from being totally bogged down.
“Having three hearings in a week is too much,” she said.
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The hearing slated for Wednesday was originally expected to cover the pressure campaign that unfolded at the Department of Justice during the 2020 election, which targeted Justice Department officials like former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue.
Both were expected to testify. Steve Engel, the former assistant attorney general, was also expected to testify.
The committee planned to present its findings on the alleged attempt to have Rosen removed when he would not go along with a plan to distribute a memo stating that the department was investigating claims of fraud in multiple states. Those fraud claims were long debunked.
On Thursday, the committee still plans to present its findings on another attempt by the former president to overturn the election through a well-orchestrated pressure campaign targeting former VIce President Mike Pence. Members of Pence’s office, including his counsel Greg Jacob and chief of staff Marc Short are expected to testify. J. Michael Luttig, a former federal judge, will also testify. It was Luttig’s advice that Pence relied on when the former veep announced on Jan. 6 that he would not stop the counting of Electoral votes because he did not have the constitutional authority to do so.