People around Trump and Pence say that Trump’s 1/6 call logs are complete because the former president constantly violated the law.
According to multiple sources familiar with Trump’s phone behavior and the White House switchboard records, the January 6 log reflects Trump’s typical phone habits. He mainly placed calls through the switchboard when he was in the residence but rarely used it when he was in the Oval Office. The fact the log does not show calls on January 6, 2021, from the Oval Office is not unusual, said the sources, because Trump typically had staff either place calls directly for him on landlines or cell phones. Those calls would not be noted on the switchboard log.
The Presidential Records Act requires that calls from non-official devices be documented, so the excuse that Republicans are making is that Trump always broke the law.
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It is doubtful that there is another non-White House switchboard call log floating around from the Trump administration, so the presumption is that Trump used other devices to make his calls on 1/6 to hide his activities. The 1/6 Committee may have to subpoena to get the records of devices of other White House staffers.
The excuse that Presidential Records Act was consistently violated doesn’t exonerate Trump but makes him look even more guilty.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
