Bob Woodward and Robert Costa reported in the Washington Post that there was a seven-hour gap in the White House presidential phone log.
It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of the gap. The rule of law is in danger because of the evidence of former President Donald Trump's criminal intent with regard to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Why is the gap so significant? If Trump is so detached from reality that he actually believed his own Big Lie that the 2020 election was marred by fraud, that would make conviction for trying to steal the election difficult. He wouldn't have thought he was acting wrong, it was a necessary element for conviction on the charges he is most vulnerable to.
It appears that Trump hid his calls and conduct on January 6, 2021. People who think their behavior is law-abiding do not cover it up.
Attorney General Garland would look at the facts and the law the same way.
The gap ended at 6:54 p.m. During the gap period, we reported that the president tried to reach Sen. Tommy Tuberville. Trump spoke for five to 10 minutes after Lee handed his phone to Tuberville. Capitol police ordered the Senate chambers to be emptied because of insurrectionists in the Capitol.
He had a phone conversation with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and another with Vice President Mike Pence during the gap period. The pressure from Trump not to allow the certification of Joe Biden's Electoral College victory was rebuffed by Pence.
The calls are not on the logs.
In addition, Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and Steve Bannon were at a five-star hotel in D.C., where Trump spoke to them before the log gap. The phone company records would be subpoenaed by a prosecutor.
Let's look at the law. One of my favorite jury instructions is if you believe that the white-collar criminal sought to conceal evidence, then you may consider it.
It would be justified to use alternate means of communication over five or six hours to avoid calls being recorded.
Adding to the evidence of corrupt intent would be a subterfuge. The president has a duty to assure that the activities, deliberations, decisions, and policies reflect the performance of the president.
Trump denied using a burner phone that his allies bought with untraceable cash, in response to the Washington Post story. There is no report that Trump denied using phones.
On CNN on Tuesday, Bob Woodward told John King that he got to know Trump very well during his many hours interviewing him during the 2020 campaign, and that he is a phone junkie.
The Post's report about the length of the gap in White House records adds to the already overwhelming evidence of Trump's criminal intent. On Monday, a federal court found that Trump and John Eastman tried to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021.
The evidence shows that President Trump probably knew the electoral count plan had no factual justification.
If the plan worked, it would have ended the peaceful transition of power and undermined American democracy.
During the Watergate cover-up, Richard Nixon's investigators learned of an 18 minute gap in White House tape recordings. The gap in his phone logs is more than 400 minutes. The least of it is the numerical comparison. The Democratic Party headquarters in D.C. were the target of a third-rate break-in. The attempted coup looks to have been covered up by Trump.
The White House tapes were what took Nixon down. If Garland is waiting for that kind of smoking gun, he is sending a clear signal that Trump is above the law.
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