Trump cancels rally after he, Ivanka and Don Jr are forced to testify under oath

The former president’s appearance scheduled for Friday removed from the website quietly and no explanation given

Donald Trump has cancelled a paid rally in North Carolina’s Greensboro this week as the former president, his son Donald Trump Jr, and daughter Ivanka Trump have been asked to join an investigation into his finances and testify under oath on the same day, according to a media report.

The rally, initially publicised in May on the American Freedom Tour’s website — a platform dedicated to promoting rallies across the US in an event series, was removed from the portal, according to a report by the Raleigh News and Observer reports.

It now shows the next event in the series more than a month later on 20 August in Milwaukee. “Come see President Donald J Trump, Mike Pompeo, Donald Trump Jr, Dinesh D’Souza, Kimberly Guilfoyle, Judge Jeanine Pirro, Sheriff Mark Lamb and many, many more live and in person,” the website page reads.

The appearance scheduled for Friday was removed from the website quietly and no explanation has been shared, the report added.

The mysterious cancellation comes after news broke last month that Mr Trump, Mr Trump Jr, and Ms Trump “agreed to be questioned under oath in mid-July by lawyers from the New York State attorney general’s office.” The New York Times reported in June that the family would be questioned as part of the final phase of state attorney general Letitia James’s investigation into Mr. Trump and the business practices of his company, The Trump Organization.

Despite repeated efforts from Trump family lawyers to avoid questioning, the Times noted that the trio of Trumps would appear for testimony on Friday, 15 July.

Friday’s event included appearances by Mr Trump, Trump Jr., television news personality Kimberly Guilfoyle, former New York state judge Jeanine Pirro, Pinal County (Arizona) sheriff Mark Lamb and political commentator Dinesh D’Souza.

The tickets for attending the event were priced between $9 (£7) to $3,955 (£3,339).

Organisers of the rally confirmed that the event has been rescheduled and that the audience who have already purchased the tickets can use it in the other tours in the series.

“We are very sorry that due to unforeseen circumstances we are rescheduling the American Freedom Tour stop in Greensboro, NC,” the tour organisers said in an email response, reported Raleigh News and Observer.

The representatives added: “Your ticket may be used at any American Freedom Tour event in America”, adding that the phone calls would be given to the registered patrons to shed more detailed information and answer further questions.

The statement added that a second email would be sent out once the Greensboro event is rescheduled.

As the hearings continue this week, officials in the Jan 6 committee are expected to highlight the provocations caused by Mr Trump’s “siren call” among the violent far-right extremists to come to Washington for a big rally, some of whom are now faced with rare sedition charges.

The panel probing the riots will convene Tuesday for a public hearing in what it has termed as the final phase for the former president’s multi-faceted effort to prevent Joe Biden from establishing his victory.

Representative Stephanie Murphy, a panel member, said that the committee will “lay out the body of evidence that we have that talks about how the president’s tweet on the wee hours of December 19th of ‘Be there, be wild,’ was a siren call to these folks,”.