Report first, get the facts later

The mysterious 7-hour gap in Trump’s telephone records for January 6th, so eagerly and hysterically shouted by the Democrats’ media scribes three days ago has now been filed in the Emily Litella folder.

Here’s CNN (!)

Official review of Trump phone logs from January 6 finds record is complete

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 six pages of White House switchboard logs for January 6, 2021, are completely based on an official review of White House records, according to a source familiar with the matter. There are no missing pages and the seven-hour gap is likely explained by use of White House landlines, White House cell phones and personal cell phones that do not go through the switchboard.

The missing calls also underscore something more endemic: the imperfect and antiquated system of tracking a president’s communications. The White House call log is generated by a switchboard system that dates back to the 1960s, according to the National Archives.

Another explanation could be that Trump had aides place direct calls from the Oval Office, bypassing the switchboard.

A former White House staffer who served in the Obama administration told CNN that if then-President Barrack [sic] Obama wanted to make a call to someone from the Oval Office, he would normally ask an aide seated nearby to dial the person. The aide would then call the number and hit transfer to connect the caller to the President.

That call would not go through the White House switchboard and therefore would not be recorded on the White House switchboard log, the former staffer said.

Will this confirmation of a non-story story lead the news today, and receive the same screaming treatment the original “scandal” did on Tuesday? Two words: Hunter’s laptop.