"Obviously, there's not a second in time that the president of United States isn't on record somewhere," Rep. Bennie Thompson (Democrat from Mississippi) said to CBS News Tuesday, after a White House bill signing. He stated that the committee would look into it to see "if they can put it together."
Thompson said, "It is vital that the committee has a record of the president's activities on that day."
This gap is between 11:17 a.m. and 6:54 p.m. Jan. 6. It means that there are no records of calls or messages the president received while the Capitol riot was going on.
Thompson stated that while the committee doesn't have evidence that President Trump made or received calls during that period, it does know that someone made calls if the Capitol of America is being overrun. We just need to find them.
The committee will also investigate whether Trump used a "burner telephone," or a personal disposable that could not be traced, in its investigation of the long gap.
Trump stated in a statement that he didn't know what a "burner phone" was, and claimed that he had never heard of it.
John Bolton was Trump's former national-security adviser. He refuted Trump's claims. Bolton, a former national security adviser to Trump, claimed that Trump used the term "burner phone" in multiple discussions. He also stated that the former president knew the meaning of the phrase. Bolton said that they had discussed how people use "burner phones" in order to avoid having their calls scrutinized.
When asked by reporters Tuesday if he had spoken with Trump via a burner phone, Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy didn't respond directly. "Burner phone? He held up his phone and said, "My phone?" to CBS News.
While the Jan. 6 Riot was still in progress, McCarthy told "CBS Evening News' anchor Norah O'Donnell, managing editor of CBS News, that he had spoken with Trump. McCarthy stated that McCarthy asked him to speak to the nation to tell them to stop the violence. "This is not who you are. We are the beacon for freedom. We show the world how democracy should be done. This is not what we show to the rest of the globe. While I don't know the identity of the perpetrators, I do know that there are good and bad people in this crowd. This must stop.
Thompson later told reporters Tuesday that he knew of no gap. It's a concern of the committee, but we are still trying to find out why no one has provided any details.
Thompson was then asked if the committee had been able confirm calls that were publicly reported but not reflected in logs, such as McCarthy's call and Sens calls. Lee and Tuberville.
"We have some records. They are not complete. The chairman replied that although I will not tell you what we discovered, it is part of the investigation."
Rep. Pete Aguila is on the House Jan.6 committee and stated Tuesday morning that there was "clearly, a lot missing that justifies the truth."
