JUST IN: Nearly 8-Hour Gap in White House Phone Logs Raises Questions of Whether Trump Used ‘Burner Phones’
The Washington Post and CBS News are reporting that there is gap of nearly 8 hours in White House phone logs and former President Donald Trump’s presidential diary on January 6th — raising questions of possible cover-up for any role the former president may have had in the attack on the Capitol and his possible use of disposable burner phones.
Bob Woodward and Robert Costa obtained 11 pages of logs from that day, the report of which notes a “lack of an official White House notation of any calls placed to or by Trump for 457 minutes on Jan. 6, 2021 – from 11:17 a.m. to 6:54 p.m.” The House Select Committee investigating the events of January 6th have no record of Trump’s phone conversations while the Capitol was under siege.
The lack of phone records has raised the question of how Trump was communicating with any of his surrogates that may have been involved in the planning of the rally before the riots occurred, and how what started as a peaceful political rally turned into what many call a violent insurrection.
Costa and Woodward report:
The records show that Trump was active on the phone for part of the day, documenting conversations that he had with at least eight people in the morning and 11 people that evening. The seven-hour gap also stands in stark contrast to the extensive public reporting about phone conversations he had with allies during the attack, such as a call Trump made to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — seeking to talk to Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) — and a phone conversation he had with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
The House panel is now investigating whether Trump communicated that day through backchannels, phones of aides or personal disposable phones, known as “burner phones,” according to two people with knowledge of the probe, who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. The committee is also scrutinizing whether it received the full logs from that day.
One lawmaker on the panel said the committee is investigating a “possible coverup” of the official White House record from that day. Another person close to the committee said the large gap in the records is of “intense interest” to some lawmakers on the committee, many of whom have reviewed copies of the documents. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal committee deliberations.
CNN’s Ryan Nobles reported gaps in phone logs in February, but Costa and Woodward now have the actual logs in their possession to confirm.
Costa appeared on CBS This Morning to report on his and Woodward’s finding.
Watch above via CBS.
