Key hearing with Trump Justice Dept postponed

WASHINGTON－The House of Representatives committee investigating last year's Jan 6 attack on the US Capitol has postponed a hearing scheduled with officials from former president Donald Trump's Justice Department, but would go ahead with one set for Thursday focused on former vice-president Mike Pence.

The committee said on Tuesday that its hearing on Thursday would present testimony illustrating how Trump put pressure on Pence to reject vote counts on Jan 6 and before that.

"As a federal judge has indicated, this likely violated two federal criminal statutes," said Representative Liz Cheney, the panel's vice-chairwoman, 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 Joe Biden was the result of fraud.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Democratic-led House Select Committee 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 yearlong 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.

Unfounded claims

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.

Agencies via Xinhua