WASHINGTON — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol announced Tuesday it was postponing a public hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. ET Wednesday.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., a member of the panel, told reporters that the postponement was due to "technical issues" stemming from "overwhelming" demand on staff to produce videos.
"We're trying to give them a little room," Lofgren said.
The next hearing is now scheduled to take place on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. The committee also announced the dates and times for two more hearings: June 21 and June 23, both at 1 p.m.
Wednesday's hearing had been expected to focus on then-President Donald Trump's unsuccessful plan to replace Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen with Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Clark, who was more supportive of Trump’s fraud claims. Clark caught Trump’s eye after he circulated a draft letter to states that said the department “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election.”
Rosen was expected to testify at Wednesday's hearing, along with former acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue and Steve Engel, former assistant attorney general for the Office of Legal Counsel.
“In our hearings, you will hear first-hand how the senior leadership of the department threatened to resign, how the White House Counsel threatened to resign, and how they confronted Donald Trump and Jeff Clark in the Oval Office,” Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said last week at the committee's first public hearing.
Thursday's hearing will focus on Trump’s efforts to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence “to refuse to count certain electoral votes on Jan. 6,” according to Cheney. She said the committee would present testimony from Pence’s former general counsel, Greg Jacob, saying what Trump demanded of Pence “wasn’t just wrong, it was illegal and unconstitutional.”
J. Michael Luttig, a former conservative judge who advised Pence, will also testify Thursday, a committee aide said.
It's unclear when the DOJ-focused hearing, initially planned for Wednesday, will take place.
Former Attorney General William Barr, who has emerged as a key witness in the hearings, will not be testifying at upcoming hearings and has not been asked to do so by the committee, a person familiar with the matter tells NBC News.
The announcement of the postponed hearing comes a day after the panel held its second hearing on Capitol Hill, which was delayed by more than 30 minutes Monday because Bill Stepien, Trump's former campaign manager, was no longer able to join after his wife went into labor.
Next week's hearings are expected to focus on Trump's plan to pressure state legislators and election officials to change election results and how Trump summoned a violent mob and directed them to "illegally" march on the U.S. Capitol. One upcoming hearing is expected to feature a moment-by-moment account of the hourslong attack from more than a half dozen White House staff members.
Lofgren on Tuesday reiterated comments made a day earlier by Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., that the committee would not make any criminal referrals. Lofgren said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that the committee hasn't discussed the idea for Trump or anyone else.
A committee spokesman added in a statement Tuesday that the panel has "no authority to prosecute individuals, but is rather tasked with developing the facts surrounding the January 6th riot at the Capitol."
"Right now, the committee is focused on presenting our findings to the American people in our hearings and in our report," the spokesman said. "Our investigation is ongoing and we will continue to gather all relevant information as we present facts, offer recommendations and, if warranted, make criminal referrals."
