Trump calls off Jan. 6 news conference, a relief for some in GOP

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday abruptly canceled a news conference scheduled for the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, blaming the House committee investigating the riot.

"In light of the total bias and dishonesty of the J6 Unselect Committee of Democrats, two failed Republicans, and the Fake News Media, I am canceling the Jan 6th Press Conference at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday, and instead will discuss many of those important topics at my rally," Trump said in a statement.

The move provided a sense of relief to some in his party. The prospect of Trump's using the date to lie again about the 2020 election, a falsehood that fueled the assault on Congress, had not sat well with many in his circle.

"No one understands it," a former Trump adviser said earlier this week in an interview, trying to explain Trump's earlier decision to hold the news conference. "It's all about his ego."

With House Republicans confident that they are poised to take control of Congress in November's midterm elections, Trump's plan to counterprogram against official Washington's commemoration of the attempted insurrection represented a potential liability.