What did Trump do during the Capitol storm? According to the official call list, he did not make a call for almost eight hours. But there are reports that doubt this.
According to media reports, there was an almost eight-hour gap in the official call list of then-US President Donald Trump on the day of the Capitol storming in early 2021. The “Washington Post” and the television station CBS reported on Tuesday that the list drawn up by the White House did not contain any telephone calls on January 6, 2021 between 11:17 a.m. and 6:54 p.m.
That equates to a gap of 457 minutes, or seven hours and 37 minutes. During this time, radical Trump supporters stormed the Capitol to certify the victory of Trump’s challenger Joe Biden in the November 2020 presidential election.
Reports of phone calls throughout the day
The National Archives had handed the call log along with a number of other documents to the parliamentary committee of inquiry into the storming of the Capitol. The list shows that Trump spoke to at least eight people on the morning of the Capitol storming and 11 in the evening. However, there are numerous media reports that on January 6 Trump was on the phone throughout the day, even during the hour-long gap in the official call log.
According to the Washington Post, investigators on the investigative committee are checking whether Trump communicated through unofficial channels, such as employee cell phones or disposable cell phones, i.e. prepaid cell phones that are disposed of after a short period of use. A MP told the newspaper that a possible “cover-up” on the official call list was also being investigated. Trump told the Washington Post: “I have no idea what a disposable cell phone is, as far as I know I’ve never even heard the term.”
The right-wing populist, who to this day has not acknowledged his electoral defeat against Biden and speaks of alleged massive election fraud, called on his supporters in an incendiary speech on January 6, 2021 to march to the Capitol and fight “whatever the hell”. As a result, hundreds of supporters stormed the parliament building. The storming of the Capitol with five dead caused horror around the world and is considered a black day in the history of US democracy.
The parliamentary committee of inquiry wants to uncover the role of Trump and his environment in the Capitol storming. This also includes the question of who communicated with whom and when. In early March, the U-Committee accused Trump of a “criminal conspiracy” in a court document. A federal judge said Monday it was “rather likely” that the 75-year-old committed a crime by attempting to obstruct the session of Congress certifying Biden’s election victory.
