Jan. 6 committee postpones hearing next week

The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol announced Thursday it will hold its next hearing on Oct. 13.

The panel had postponed a public hearing last week because Hurricane Ian was set to make landfall on Florida's Gulf Coast. The hearing next Thursday is set to begin at 1 p.m. Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss. The format of the hearing would be different from the one used in their series of hearings over the summer, so that each of the nine lawmakers will have a chance to speak.

Members haven't said explicitly that the next hearing will be their last. It will be held less than a month before the midterm elections on November 8.

The panel still needs to produce a written report on their findings over the past 14 months. One of its members told NBC News that the committee's relevance has begun to fade with the Justice Department now ramping up its criminal investigation into the Jan. 6 riot.

There have been several developments since the committee's last hearing in July, though it is not clear what the next hearing will focus on. The panel interviewed Virginia Ginni Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

The rescheduled session could include video of testimony from some other members of the administration, including Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who have both spoken to the committee but have not appeared in any of the hearings.

Among the interviewees were White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Cassidy Hutchinson, who was a senior aide to then White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. In bombshell testimony, Hutchinson detailed outbursts she said Trump made on January 6.

The most recent hearing in late July focused on what happened inside the White House during the 187 minutes between Trump's speech and his tweet encouraging rioters to head home.