The House select committee is looking into a seven-hour gap in the White House call logs from Jan. 6, 2021.
One panel member said the committee was investigating a “possible coverup” of the official White House record from that day and looking at whether Donald Trump used “burner phones” — which the former president denied in a statement to the Washington Post.
“I have no idea what a burner phone is, to the best of my knowledge I have never even heard the term,” Trump told the newspaper.
The committee is investigating whether Trump communicated through backchannels, including aides’ phones or disposable personal phones, according to two sources with knowledge of the probe, after call records turned over by the National Archives showed a seven-hour and 37-minute gap, from 11:17 a.m. to 6:54 p.m.
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Trump was known for using different phones while president, with some outbound calls showing up as the White House switchboard’s number and other times it would show up to the recipient from a different number — or no number at all, according to a former Cabinet member.
The Presidential Records Act requires the preservation of all written communications and a presidential daily diary that chronicles all the president’s movements, phone calls and meetings.