According to a new report in The New York Times, members of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot have “discovered gaps in official White House telephone logs from the day of the riot, finding few records of calls by President Donald J. Trump from critical hours when investigators know that he was making them.” Uncovering exactly what Trump was doing at the White House around the time of the riot has been a key ambition of the investigative panel. So far, details have emerged like the revelation that Trump occupied himself amid parts of the violence by watching television coverage of it. According to Stephanie Grisham, who worked in various positions within Trump’s orbit over the years, Trump repeatedly rewound the television coverage, reveling in it.
According to the Times, what seems to be a problem with the call records that the riot investigation committee has obtained is that Trump often used his personal cellphone and cellphones belonging to people around him to communicate. Those calls would therefore obviously be left out of records associated with the White House switchboard, which are what investigators got. Investigators have not “uncovered evidence that any official records were tampered with or deleted,” the Times explains. Going forward, there’s apparently more material on the way to the committee from the National Archives — including records associated with ex-Vice President Mike Pence — but it’s unclear that these records will fill out all the gaps with which investigators have been confronted. Investigators have also subpoenaed personal communication records associated with various people around Trump.
House Oversight Cmte announces probe into Trump records obtained from Mar-a-Lago. Committee chair, “I am also concerned by recent reports that while in office, Pres. Trump repeatedly attempted to destroy presidential records, which could constitute additional serious violations”
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) February 10, 2022
The then-president’s known communications that day include a morning conversation with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and exchanges with House GOP leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), the latter of whom Trump spoke to on a phone belonging to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), after he accidentally called the Utah Senator instead. Trump also talked with then-Vice President Mike Pence at some point that day; Pence was facing pressure at the time, in his role overseeing the Congressional proceedings to certify the presidential election outcome, to stop the necessary procedural validation of Biden’s victory, although Pence didn’t have that legally recognized power.
New via NY Times: Jan. 6 committee discovers gaps in official White House telephone logs from the day of the Capitol attack, finding few records of calls by Trump when investigators know he was making them.
— Hugo Lowell (@hugolowell) February 10, 2022
Besides Trump’s personal activities, committee members have also been pursuing details about what else was going on within the White House as the riot unfolded. To that end, Ivanka Trump’s testimony has been requested, although she offered a non-committal statement after that request suggesting that she wasn’t inclined to provide the information that panel investigators were after. Apparently though, Ivanka was implored by members of the White House staff to help get her father to speak out as the violence shook D.C. Committee chairperson Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) noted in a letter to Ivanka that testimony “obtained by the Committee indicates that members of the White House staff requested your assistance on multiple occasions to intervene in an attempt to persuade President Trump to address the ongoing lawlessness and violence on Capitol Hill.”
NEW: The National Archives and Records Administration discovered what it believed was classified information in documents Donald J. Trump had taken with him from the White House as he left office. w/@reidepstein https://t.co/sdeRv8qsrI
— Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) February 10, 2022
