New questions raised about 'nefarious' gap in Trump's day on Jan. 6

On Monday the now-shuttered House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 insurrection released more documents to the Department of Justice and the public and now new questions are being raised about Donald Trump's activities on that day.

As the Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery wrote, a renewed focus is taking place on the 8-hour gap when the former president's phone calls were not logged --which could lead to a DOJ inquiry involving phone records people known to have been in contact with him based on their own testimony.

As American University professor Chris Edelson, put it: "The first thing one thinks of is the [Richrad] Nixon tapes, the missing 18 minutes. It’s never been resolved,” with regard to the Watergate scandal that brought his presidency down.

Adding that Trump "is now in the same boat," Pagliery wrote, "The gap starts at 11:04 a.m. that day, when an incoming call was logged from then-Senator David Perdue (R-GA) with the attached note, 'Talked Ok.' The next item appears nearly eight hours later at 6:54 p.m., when Trump asked the switchboard operator to ring his social media director. 'POTUS instructed operator to call back with Mr. Dan Scavino,' it reads.

For investigators, what is central to those missing calls is Trump's state of mind during the insurrection -- a key charge made by the Jan. 6 committee.

With Pagliery writing, "... similar to Nixon, there’s ample evidence that former President Donald Trump did indeed have damning conversations that aren’t reflected in the official record. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) have all admitted to having phone conversations with the former president during the harrowing hours while the attack unfolded in the afternoon, yet the White House switchboard typically used for official calls doesn’t reflect any of those calls," Barbara Ann Perry, of the University of Virginia, claimed the gap needs a thorough investigation.

"All you’re left to surmise is that, for nefarious reasons, this particular president didn’t want any record kept,” Perry explained before adding, "Yes, this is missing evidence of wrongdoing on the president's part. This would be part of that story. Why would he be hiding this?”

You can read more here.