White House record-keepers appeared to have been “iced out” in the days leading up to January 6, CNN reported.Trump’s presidential diarist told the January 6 committee that fewer details were offered by the White House.The committee is reportedly unsure whether the lack of information was intentional or due to staffing issues.Sign up for our weekday newsletter, packed with original analysis, news, and trends — delivered right to your inbox.White House officials provided fewer details about then-President Donald Trump’s calls and visits in the days before the Capitol riot, his presidential diarist told the January 6 committee, according to CNN .
Other witnesses also told the panel there was significantly less information being shared with White House record-keepers during that time, CNN said, citing three sources with knowledge of the probe.
One source told CNN that White House record-keepers appeared to be “iced out” in the days leading up to January 6.
“The last day that normal information was sent was the 4th,” another source told CNN.”So, starting the 5th, the diarist didn’t receive the annotated calls and notes.
This was a dramatic departure.That is all out of the ordinary.”
The House committee interviewed Trump’s presidential diarist roughly two weeks ago, CNN said, but not previously reported.
The White House diarist compiles a minute-by-minute log of the president’s public and personal activities, using information from a range of sources, including White House call logs, details of the president’s movements from the US Secret Service, and notes from the Oval Office.
The panel does not know whether the reduced flow of information before January 6 was intentional and, if so, who it was directed by, or whether it was due to staffing issues, CNN said.
“It’s tough to know what that change was.
Was it intentional?” a source familiar with the probe told the outlet.
“You can only keep track of something when you know what’s going on.When people don’t share things with you, whether that was intentional and who decided that, I think it’s a little murky at this point.”
The revelation comes amid reports of a seven-hour gap in White House call logs on January 6, raising questions about a possible “cover-up.”
The lack of call logs contradicts multiple reports that Trump spoke with several lawmakers during that time.
CNN said that a possible explanation could be that Trump used landlines, cell phones, and aides’ phones to communicate with others, which would bypass the White House switchboard and not show up in official records.
Insider has compiled a full timeline of Trump’s known phone calls as recorded in official White House records on that day.
Sources told CNN that a possible explanation for the gaps in information could be that January was a chaotic time inside the White House.
Trump started conducting less official business, and many aides were looking for other jobs.
One former Trump official told the outlet that “all sense of normal order started to break down” around early January, and “the cracks were showing.”
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