The January 6th House Select Committee has officially shut down shop on their long-running investigation into the infamous, deadly Capitol insurrection, and Donald Trump’s specific role in inciting that fatal violence, as the US House of Representatives prepares for the incoming Republican leadership, following the GOP’s narrow success in the midterm election. As such, the panel of investigators has officially released a treasure trove of documents, evidence, and testimony transcripts to not only the US Department of Justice, to assist in their ongoing investigations into the scandal-ridden former president, but also to the American public, that is desperate for and deserves answers regarding what Donald Trump has done.
However, certain portions of the newly-released information have seemingly raised more questions than it has answered — specifically when it comes to the infamous, “nefarious” alleged 8-hour gap in then-President Donald Trump’s day on January 6th, 2020.
The Daily Beast’s Jose Pagliery has penned a piece with a reignited focus on the notorious 8-hour gap on January 6th, during which Trump’s phone calls were suddenly not logged — leaving the gap open to intense scrutiny from the Justice Department, who could very well choose to start digging into the phone records of those closest to Trump, who were known to contact him.
American University professor Chris Edelson invoked the infamous Watergate Scandal that brought the Nixon era to its knees when he said, “The first thing one thinks of is the [Richrad] Nixon tapes, the missing 18 minutes. It’s never been resolved.”
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Pagliery pointedly noted that Donald Trump “is now in the same boat,” going on to write, “The gap starts at 11:04 a.m. that day when an incoming call was logged from then-Senator David Perdue (R-GA) with the attached note, ‘Talked Ok.’ The next item appears nearly eight hours later at 6:54 p.m., when Trump asked the switchboard operator to ring his social media director. ‘POTUS instructed operator to call back with Mr. Dan Scavino,’ it reads.”
Investigators made specific note of the central key to those missing calls in that hours-long gap — Donald Trump’s state of mind at the time.
Pagliery goes on to write, “… similar to Nixon, there’s ample evidence that former President Donald Trump did indeed have damning conversations that aren’t reflected in the official record. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) have all admitted to having phone conversations with the former president during the harrowing hours while the attack unfolded in the afternoon, yet the White House switchboard typically used for official calls doesn’t reflect any of those calls.”
The University of Virginia’s Barbara Ann Perry weighed in and stressed just how imperative it is that this gap and those potential calls receive a thorough investigation.
“All you’re left to surmise is that, for nefarious reasons, this particular president didn’t want any record kept,” Perry explained. “Yes, this is missing evidence of wrongdoing on the president’s part. This would be part of that story. Why would he be hiding this?”
Read the full report from The Daily Beast here.
Featured image via Flickr/Trump White House Archives
