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Greenwald: NSA hearing canceled

This week's informal congressional hearing on the National Security Agency's surveillance program has been canceled, according to The Guardian's Glenn Greenwald, who was expected to testify via satellite.

Democratic congressman Alan Grayson and a bipartisan group of congressman were expected to hear from Greenwald and other critics of the NSA's surveillance practices on Wednesday, according to a Guardian report from last week. The meeting was not meant to be a formal committee hearing, but would take place on the Hill before a dozen members of Congress from both parties.

But Greenwald now tells POLITICO that the hearing has been canceled due to Obama's decision to meet with House Democrats.

"Obama developed a sudden and newfound interest in House Democrats and scheduled a meeting with them for that same time," he wrote in an email, adding that the committee was trying to re-schedule the meeting to take place before congress goes on recess.

Representatives from both the American Civil Liberties Union and the conservative Cato Institute were expected to testify, Grayson told The Guardian.