Home WebMail Friday, November 1, 2024, 02:31 PM | Calgary | 1.3°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Posted: 2022-09-27T20:09:55Z | Updated: 2022-09-27T20:09:55Z

WASHINGTON (AP) The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol announced Tuesday that it had postponed a hearing scheduled for Wednesday as a hurricane hurtled toward the Florida coast .

The committee had planned to hold what was likely to be its final investigative hearing Wednesday afternoon, but members decided at the last minute to delay it as it became clear that Hurricane Ian was churning on a collision course toward Florida, where it was expected to strengthen into a catastrophic Category 4 storm.

Were praying for the safety of all those in the storms path, committee chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and vice chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. The Select Committees investigation goes forward and we will soon announce a date for the postponed proceedings.

The committee had not yet provided a specific agenda for the Wednesday hearing, but Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said over the weekend it would tell the story about a key element of Donald Trump s plot to overturn the election.

This weeks hearing was intended to close the series of public hearings the nine-member panel embarked on in early June. Throughout eight hearings, the committee comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans sought to show the American public in great detail how former President Trump ignored many of his closest advisers and amplified his false claims of election fraud after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden .

Some of the more than 1,000 witnesses interviewed by the panel a number of them Trumps closest allies recounted in videotaped testimony how the former president declined to act when hundreds of his supporters violently attacked the Capitol as Congress certified Bidens victory on Jan. 6, 2021. But the committee has said its work isnt done.

During the August recess, congressional investigators continued to interview witnesses, including several of Trumps cabinet members, some of whom had discussed invoking the constitutional process in the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office after the insurrection.

Cheney had previously said the committee has far more evidence to share with the American people and more to gather.

There are also many questions surrounding the effort to overturn the election that remain unanswered as the committee goes into its final three months of work.

The committee wants to get to the bottom of missing Secret Service texts from Jan. 5-6, 2021, which could shed further light on Trumps actions during the insurrection, particularly after earlier testimony about his confrontation with security as he tried to join supporters at the Capitol. Thompson said earlier this month that the committee has recently obtained thousands of documents from the Secret Service.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

The committee has also secured an interview with conservative activist Virginia Ginni Thomas, whos married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Lawmakers want to know more about her role in trying to help Trump overturn the election. She contacted lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin as part of that effort.

The committee is expected to turn over a comprehensive report by the end of the year that will include legislative reforms to help prevent a future attempt to subvert democracy.