Water-Logged

CNN says a source explains the 7-hour log gap at the White House as perfectly normal, that Trump often had aides places cell phone or landline calls that wouldn't go through the switchboard log. I don't even remotely accept this "there's no problem here" explanation that everything was everyday "normal."

A) If it was normal, then there would not only be other 7-HOUR GAPS over the years, but there'd be 7-HOUR GAPS on an almost regular, daily, "normal" basis. And there is zero evidence of that being the case ever. Let alone on a normal, daily basis.

B) There are logged calls both early and late on January 6.  So, clearly, they were going through the White House switchboard to make calls that day.  But they just conveniently stopped going through the switchboard during the 7-HOUR Insurrection.  And then started up again afterwards.

C) If this was normal procedure, Trump would have said, "This was normal." And other aides would publicly say, "This was normal." Instead, it took a private "source" to say this off-the-record. And instead, what we got was Trump's not-believable explanation for the 7-HOUR gap that, "I don't know what a burner phone is."  Which furthermore, we now know is a lie.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting calls were erased, but rather that there was absolutely nothing everyday "normal" about this at all, and that they intentionally avoided using the switchboard in order to avoid having phone records of who was being spoken to for 7 HOURS during the Insurrection. And furthermore, may well have also used burner phones. Indeed, likely were using burner phones -- an assumption given credence by Trump trying to insist he didn't know what they were, when we know now that's a lie.

And just to be clear, every call from the White House is supposed to go through the switchboard, specifically so that there is a record of it for the National Archives.  I'm sure an occasional call from and to slips through the cracks.  But...not for 7 HOURS.

The White House aside, I'm really deeply-surprised that CNN is seemingly taking this "explanation" from a source as being "normal." For SEVEN HOURS. And write that "But the gap might have a less mysterious explanation." No, the gap does not have a less mysterious explanation. The White House was trying to hide phone calls for SEVEN HOURS during an Insurrection.  That's the explanation.

You can read the CNN article here.