Jan. 6 panel missing roughly 8 hours of Trump's phone calls

Meridian ID

Description

On the coat tails of Richard Nixons erased White House tapes after Watergate the Jan. 6 panel missing roughly 8 hours of Trump's phone calls. The gap extends from a little after 11 a.m. to about 7 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, and involves White House calls. It's widely known that Trump had conversations on Jan. 6 with Republican lawmakers. House investigators are looking at whether the president was communicating during that time through other means, possibly through personal cellphones, or some other type of communication — like a phone passed to him by an aide or a burner phone. The committee has subpoenaed cellphone companies for records and is awaiting data. Trump had no immediate comment Tuesday, but he has previously disparaged the investigation. The committee also is continuing to receive records from the National Archives and other sources, which could produce additional information. Trump communicated with at least some lawmakers during the insurrection. He spoke, for example, with House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, who asked him to call off the mob, according to Republican Rep. Jaime Lynn Herrera Beutler of Washington state, who said McCarthy told her about the call. She said in a statement, “That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said, ‘Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.’” Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama also said he spoke with the president in that time period, telling reporters: “I said, ’Mr. President, they’ve taken the vice president out. They want me to get off the phone. I gotta go.” That call by Trump apparently first went to Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, who then handed the phone to Tuberville. The committee is focused on Trump’s actions that day because he waited hours to tell his supporters to stop the violence and leave the Capitol. The panel is also interested in the organization and financing of the rally that morning in Washington, D.C., where Trump told his supporters to “fight like hell.” Among the unanswered questions is how close organizers of the rally coordinated with White House officials. In many cases, the committee may not need direct confirmation from the White House about Trump’s calls. Lawmakers have already interviewed more than 500 witnesses, including several people in Trump’s inner circle who may be able to fill in those gaps. They are hampered, though, by the former president’s claims of executive privilege over his personal conversations, which have prompted many witnesses to refuse to answer some questions.