(NewsNation) — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol has postponed its Wednesday hearing, according to an advisory.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of two Republicans on the committee, tweeted the delay was designed to space out the hearings.
Former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, his deputy Richard Donoghue and Steven Engle, then the head of the Office of Legal Counsel, were all expected to appear before the committee on Wednesday.
Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the Republican vice-chair of the committee, said the third hearing was going to focus on how former President Donald Trump pushed for the Justice Department to “spread his false stolen election claims in the days before January 6.”
“In our third hearing, you will see that President Trump corruptly planned to replace the Attorney General so the U.S. Justice Department would spread his false stolen election claims,” Cheney said.
Cheney noted how Trump sought to elevate Jeffrey Clark, an environmental lawyer at the department, to the job of acting attorney general. Clark had drafted a letter to send to Georgia and five other states saying the Justice Department had “identified significant concerns that may have impacted the outcome of the election.”
Trump nearly gave the top job to Clark but backed down when senior Justice Department leadership and White House lawyers threatened to resign, testimony has shown.
“The men involved, including Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen and Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, were appointed by President Trump,” Cheney said. “These men honored their oaths of office. They did their duty, and you will hear from them in our hearings.”
Clark has invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refused to testify to the committee.
In its second public hearing Monday, the House select committee said Trump refused to accept the results of the democratic process.
NewsNation’s political editor Chris Stirewalt discussed Monday’s hearing and his testimony in an exclusive interview with Leland Vittert, blaming both parties for allowing hyper-partisanship, and the pursuit of political power, to drive decision-making in the wake of the 2020 election.
Also on Monday, Trump issued a 12-page rebuttal to testimony and evidence presented by the committee.
“Seventeen months after the events of January 6th, Democrats are unable to offer solutions,” Trump said in a statement.
The Jan. 6 committee’s next hearing is tentatively scheduled for Thursday at 1 p.m. EST and is expected to focus on Trump pressuring former Vice President Mike Pence to stop Congress from certifying some electoral votes for Biden on Jan. 6 — something he had no power to do in his ceremonial role.
Check back for updates, as this story is developing.
The Hill and the Associated Press contributed to this report.