Trump’s Jan 6 phone records have 7-hour gap spanning riot

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy New reporting has revealed that the White House records from 6 January 2021 obtained by the select committee investigating the Capitol riot show a seven-hour gap in Donald Trump’s phone logs – a period of time that spans the all-important hours before, during and after the incident. According to CBS News and the Washington Post, White House records turned over to the committee by the National Archives and Records Administration do not include any calls made or recieved by Mr Trump between the hours of 11:17am and 6:54pm — a period spans from the time just before he exhorted supporters gathered at the White House to march to the Capitol to the hour at which police regained control of the US legislature’s building. The lack of documentation for Mr Trump’s phone calls during the worst attack on the Capitol since Major General Robert Ross ordered it set ablaze in 1814 is belied by extensive public reporting which shows the then-president was not incommunicado while a mob of his supporters was attempting to sack the building in hopes of stopping certification of President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. Ms Herrera Beutler said Mr McCarthy asked the then-president to “publicly and forcefully call off the riot,” at which point Mr Trump falsely claimed the mob was composed of self-described “Antifa,” or anti-fascist protesters.