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Conflicting explanations over why Wednesday’s Jan. 6 committee hearing abruptly postponed

By Benjamin Siegel and Katherine Faulders, ABC News Jun 14, 2022 | 8:34 AM


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(WASHINGTON) — The Jan. 6 committee announced Tuesday morning that its hearing set for Wednesday has been postponed — but conflicting explanations were offered as to why.

Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., told reporters on Capitol Hill following the committee’s announcement that there was no issue with witnesses in moving the hearing but “technical issues.”

“It’s just technical issues. I mean, we were, you know, the staff putting together all the videos, you know, doing 1-2-3, It was overwhelming, so we’re trying to give them a little room,” she said. “It’s not a big deal.”

Appearing on MSNBC’s Morning Joe earlier, she said “putting together the video exhibits is an exhausting exercise for our very small video staff … it’s just too much to put it all together.”

But when asked later if Lofgren’s explanation of the hearing postponement is accurate, a committee aide said “no.”

The aide said the hearing has been “postponed to accommodate scheduling demands.”

Not long after the committee issued a statement saying, “The postponement is due to a number of scheduling factors, including production timeline and availability of members and witnesses.”

The hearing’s focus was to be then-President Donald Trump’s pressure campaign on the Justice Department to back his false claims of election fraud.

Former acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen had accepted an invitation from the Jan. 6 committee to appear at Wednesday’s hearing, alongside his then-deputy Richard Donoghue and one of DOJ’s former top attorneys Steve Engel, according to a letter obtained by ABC News sent from Rosen’s attorney to the committee.

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