Turns out, there is no “mystery gap” in former President Donald Trump’s official White House call log from January 6, 2021.
Despite insinuations to the contrary, Trump’s White House switchboard call log record is “complete,” CNN reported this week. In fact, the call log, according to sources, reflects the “typical phone habits” from Trump.
The call logs are not inaccurate or incomplete, though CNN complained that the system for tracking presidents’ calls is, and has been for decades, “imperfect and antiquated.”
The report cited a former staffer of President Barack Obama detailing how staff would sometimes dial out a call for the then-president and hit transfer to connect Obama, which would technically evade the White House call log. CNN explained that it was possible that President Donald Trump often did the same during his tenure.
“CNN Breaking: The 6 pages of WH switchboard logs for 1/6 are complete based on an official review of White House records, according to a source familiar with the matter. There are no missing pages & the 7 hour gap is likely explained by use of WH landlines & cell phones link,” Jamie Gangel reported late Thursday night.
CNN Breaking: The 6 pages of WH switchboard logs for 1/6 are complete based on an official review of White House records, according to a source familiar with the matter. There are no missing pages & the 7 hour gap is likely explained by use of WH landlines & cell phones link👇🏻
— Jamie Gangel (@jamiegangel) April 1, 2022
“That said, the [January 6th Committee] still wants to know who Trump was talking to and what he was doing and not doing during the attack,” Gangel noted. “There are other phone logs and records they can check and ask for. This simply speaks to Trump not using the WH switchboard to place calls.”
That said, the @January6thCmte still wants to know who Trump was talking to and what he was doing and not doing during the attack. There are other phone logs and records they can check and ask for. This simply speaks to Trump not using the WH switchboard to place calls.
— Jamie Gangel (@jamiegangel) April 1, 2022
“The mystery of the seven-hour gap has fueled furious speculation as to why calls are missing. That includes allegations that Trump was using ‘burner phones’ (which he has denied) or that the logs were purposely suppressed. But the gap might have a less mysterious explanation,” CNN said in its report.
“According to multiple sources familiar with Trump’s phone behavior and the White House switchboard records, the January 6 log reflects Trump’s typical phone habits,” the report said. “He mainly placed calls through the switchboard when he was in the residence but rarely used it when he was in the Oval Office. The fact the log does not show calls on January 6, 2021, from the Oval Office is not unusual, said the sources, because Trump typically had staff either place calls directly for him on landlines or cell phones. Those calls would not be noted on the switchboard log.”
“The six pages of White House switchboard logs for January 6, 2021, are complete based on an official review of White House records, according to a source familiar with the matter,” CNN added. “There are no missing pages and the seven-hour gap is likely explained by use of White House landlines, White House cell phones and personal cell phones that do not go through the switchboard.”
CBS News on Tuesday ran a “breaking” headline about the “gap” in Trump’s call log.
“BREAKING: CBS News and the Washington Post have obtained White House records turned over to the House, which show a gap in President Donald Trump’s phone logs of seven hours and 37 minutes on January 6.”
BREAKING: CBS News and the Washington Post have obtained White House records turned over to the House, which show a gap in President Donald Trump's phone logs of seven hours and 37 minutes on January 6. https://t.co/52MSlvy5f9
— CBS News (@CBSNews) March 29, 2022
The suggestion of “burner phones” was highlighted in an attached tweet. “When asked for a response on the 7-hour gap in his phone logs on January 6, former President Trump said, ‘I have no idea what a burner phone is, to the best of my knowledge I have never even heard the term.’”
A Washington Post analysis piece published Thursday questioned the “suspicious gap” in the call log and speculated wildly, including one of “Watergate-style tampering”:
From the moment we learned the extent of the 7½-hour gap in White House records of President Donald Trump’s phone calls on Jan. 6, 2021, the question has been: How did this happen? Could it just be sloppy record-keeping — that so happened to overlap with the most critical and problematic portion of that day (that is, the insurrection)? Could Trump have used burner phones? Or could someone even have engaged in Watergate-style tampering?
The Daily Wire is one of America’s fastest growing conservative media companies for breaking news, investigative reporting, sports, podcasts, in-depth analysis, books, and entertainment for a reason: because we believe in what we do. We believe in our country, in the value of truth and the freedom to speak it, and in the right to challenge tyranny wherever we see it. Believe the same? Become a member now and join our mission.
Source: Dailywire
