Capitol riots committee missing eight hours of Trump Jan. 6 phone calls

According to a person familiar with the House committee investigation into last January’s Capitol riots, the committee has found a roughly eight-hour gap in phone calls involving former President Donald Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity, saying the gap starts at a little after 11 a.m., and ends at about 7 p.m.

While the source said the gap involves White House phone calls, it’s unclear if White House cellphone calls are included. House investigators are looking at whether former President Trump was communicating during that gap through other means. This could include a personal cellphone, someone else’s phone passed to Trump by an aide or a burner phone. The Capitol riots committee is also receiving records from the National Archives and other sources, which could reveal more information about Trump’s calls.

It’s widely known that some of the calls in that eight-hour gap include conversations with Republican lawmakers. Last January, Rep. Jaime Lynn Herrera Beutler (R-WA) said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had told her about a conversation he had with Trump on Jan. 6. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) also said he talked to Trump in the missing window of phone calls.

The revelation of the missing Trump calls came a day after the Capitol riots committee voted to hold two more former Trump advisers in contempt for refusing to comply with subpoenas issued to them. The video above includes clips from a Monday night committee meeting. Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino have joined longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and ex-Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark. Bannon and Meadows have had their contempt referrals approved by the full House, but only Bannon has been indicted by the Justice Department.

“Mr. Scavino worked directly with President Trump to spread President Trump’s false message that the election was stolen, and to recruit Americans to come to Washington with the false promise that January 6th would be an opportunity to ‘take back their country,’” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) said in her opening statements before Monday night’s vote. “Mr. Navarro is also a key witness. He’s written a book boasting about his role in planning and coordinating the activity of January 6th, and yet, he does not have the courage to testify here. We have many questions for Mr. Navarro—including about his communications with Roger Stone and Steve Bannon regarding the planning for January 6th.”