On January 6, a small panel takes over the House investigation into Trump DOJ

The movement of those talks with former Justice Department aides marks a sharp shift in House Democrats’ inquiries into the end of Trump’s presidency. The change underscores the growing importance of the select committee’s work as it prepares its next steps with a political spotlight on President Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) And the two anti-Trump Republicans on the panel, Reps Liz Cheney from Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger from Illinois. Consolidating the investigations could also allow House Democrats to prevent any duplication in the investigation into Trump’s attempts to overturn the election.

And in particular, the displacement of the investigation does not seem to affect the upper house; a spokesperson for the Senate Judiciary Committee said Thursday the panel began questioning witnesses this week as part of its own investigation. The chairman of that panel, Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Told POLITICO that his committee plans to interview two Justice Department officials from the Trump-era Justice Department soon.

The House oversight committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sources said he had canceled plans to interview former acting attorney general Jeff Rosen and his former deputy in command, Richard Donoghue. These talks had been scheduled for this week and the next. Instead, the select committee investigating the January 6 riot will interview the two men.

A third senior Trump-era Justice Department official – Rosen’s former senior lawyer Patrick Hovakimian – answered questions in a closed-door interview with the watchdog panel earlier this week, making the more striking current change. The supervisory committee also Oobtained a draft email written by Hovakimian announcing that he and Donoghue had resigned because Trump had fired Rosen. Trump did not fire Rosen, however, and Hovakimian never sent the email.

The abrupt change came hours after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released a statement praising Maloney.

“The president’s persistent pursuit of the truth will greatly assist the work of the special committee to investigate the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol,” the statement said.

Heather Caygle contributed to this report.