Trump: ‘I Have No Idea What a Burner Phone Is’

Former President Donald Trump appears to need you to imagine he took a telephone detox throughout essentially the most tumultuous hours of his presidency.

That’s in accordance with newly revealed inner White House data which present a seven-hour and 37-minute hole in Trump’s telephone logs on January 6, 2021, a part of which occurred proper as his most fervent supporters charged their manner by the Capitol constructing.

The paperwork, obtained by former Watergate reporter Bob Woodward and Robert Costa for The Washington Post, reportedly included 11 pages of the previous president’s every day diary and White House switchboard name logs. Those logs reportedly present Trump was energetic on his telephone, documenting at the least eight calls made within the morning. Suddenly, at 11:17 a.m Trump’s communications went darkish. They’d keep that manner till 6:54 p.m.

The National Archives reportedly turned over the doc to the House committee investigating the January 6 riots earlier this yr. According to the National Archives, the presidential diary revealed in these paperwork should make up a “a chronological record of the President’s movements, phone calls, trips, briefings, meetings, and activities.”

That prolonged name log hole seems, on the minimal, out of character for a president who made a reputation for himself as a prolific Tweeter and smartphone junkie.

“He [Trump] is a telephone addict,” Woodward mentioned in an interview with CNN on Tuesday. “The idea that nothing would happen in the afternoon on the phone on January 6 is as unlikely as the sun not rising.”

The hole additionally defies earlier reporting suggesting Trump might have made a number of calls with a number of outstanding Republican lawmakers throughout that very same time. That incongruity has led House Committee members to start investigating whether or not or not Trump might have used his personal private machine, or perhaps a burner telephone throughout these unaccounted for hours.

Trump’s response: what’s a burner telephone anyhow?

“I have no idea what a burner phone is,” Trump informed Woodward and Costa in an announcement on Monday. “To the best of my knowledge I have never even heard the term.” A spokesperson for Trump in the meantime mentioned the previous president had nothing to do with the data and mentioned they assumed all of Trump’s official telephones had been recorded.

If you don’t precisely discover that reply convincing, you’re not alone. One lawmaker concerned with the committee informed the Post they’re trying right into a “possible coverup” of White House paperwork on January 6. The committee members extra typically try to find out whether or not or not Trump and his associates illegally conspired to overturn the 2020 election outcomes.

Gizmodo reached out to Trump for remark however had not heard again.

Trump’s Unusual Phone Habits Draw Renewed Scrutiny

Trump’s cellphone or lack thereof was the topic of fixed inquiry throughout his presidency. Officially, Trump has maintained that he solely used one, government-issued telephone throughout his presidency. That flies within the face of media reviews, together with this 2018 report from the New York Times, which claims Trump might have used as much as three separate telephones. (At the time, Trump blasted that article for being “sooo wrong.”

Earlier this week, CNN launched a report citing former Trump Administration members who claimed Trump, as president, frequently used his aides’ telephones in addition to his, an unorthodox observe that makes monitoring down precisely who he spoke to and when a ache within the ass for investigators. In some instances, the CNN report notes Trump would even make private calls (together with one to his spouse following the primary Stormy Daniels allegations) from a Secret Service agent’s telephone. Other sources claimed Trump aide Dan Scavino frequently relinquished his telephone to the president to make calls.

Aside from the decision hole, the paperwork additionally shed attention-grabbing gentle on who the president did talk with in the course of the hours main as much as the riots. According to the Post, Trump had a number of calls with a former adviser and 2020 election end result denier Steve Bannon and Rudy Giuliani, the president’s private lawyer on the time. The president additionally reportedly spoke with former Georgia Republican Senator David Perdue and Fox News host Sean Hannity on January 6.

Trump reportedly hopped on one final name with Vice President Mike Pence who informed Trump he wouldn’t try to dam Congress from certifying Biden’s electoral victory. Not lengthy after excessive Trump supporters would get within shouting distance of the vp.

“I was very skeptical of what the January 6 Committee could do, but they are delivering in a way I did not expect,” Woodward mentioned.