House Jan. 6 panel postpones hearing set for Wednesday due to Hurricane Ian

The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is postponing its next public hearing due to a major hurricane, the leaders of the panel announced Tuesday.

The hearing, which was scheduled for Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET, will now be held at a later date to be announced, Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said in a joint statement.

“In light of Hurricane Ian bearing down on parts of Florida, we have decided to postpone tomorrow’s proceedings,” Thompson and Cheney said.

“We’re praying for the safety of all those in the storm’s path. The Select Committee’s investigation goes forward and we will soon announce a date for the postponed proceedings,” they said.

The delay came after Hurricane Ian, a Category 3 storm expected to wallop Florida with high winds and heavy rainfall, made landfall in Cuba.

Forecasters predict Ian could strengthen to a Category 4 hurricane by Tuesday evening.

The panel’s next hearing will be its ninth, and the first since late July.

The committee is investigating the facts and circumstances surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, when a violent mob of then-President Donald Trump‘s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. The insurrection forced lawmakers to flee their chambers and temporarily stopped them from confirming President Joe Biden‘s victory over Trump in the 2020 election.

In the now-postponed hearing, the panel was expected to show clips of Roger Stone, a longtime political operative and confidant of Trump’s, talking about challenging the 2020 election results, NBC News reported.

The postponement was announced less than two months before the midterm elections, when Republicans hope to retake majority control of the House and Senate.

Cheney, who last month lost her GOP primary race to a Trump-backed challenger, has vowed to do all she can to keep Trump out of the White House. But Trump remains a key figure in the Republican Party, as some polls show him as the clear favorite to win the party’s nomination for president in 2024.

The committee also faces an end-of-the-year deadline to submit a final report to the president and Congress containing its findings and recommendations.