SATIRE (unless it isn't)
THE HOAX FILES · 23
The Gap That Wasn't Missing Anything
The gap was real. The cover-up was a vibe.
Washington Post and CBS
A "7-hour gap" in Jan. 6 call logs sounded like Watergate. Two days later, CNN reported the logs were complete.
As printed on the graphic:
Seven-Hour Gap Hoax
What they sold
March 29, 2022. The Washington Post and CBS reported that White House records given to the January 6 committee showed a gap of 7 hours and 37 minutes in Trump's January 6 call logs, from 11:17 a.m. to 6:54 p.m. CNN ran it the same day. Cable panels compared it to Nixon's 18½-minute tape gap.
What the record shows
Two days later, CNN itself: "Official review of Trump phone logs from January 6 finds record is complete." The switchboard logs had no missing pages. The gap meant Trump's calls in those hours didn't go through the switchboard. They went through landlines, White House cell phones or personal phones, which the switchboard log doesn't track. CNN's April 1 timeline said the same thing.
So the "gap" was real as a gap in one log. The Watergate comparison, that records had been erased or hidden, was not supported. Whether Trump used untracked phones to dodge records is a fair question. "Missing records" was not the answer.
The damage
FNN analysis: the scandal version got the 24-hour panel treatment. The "logs are complete" follow-up got one web story. Gallup's 2022 reading: 34% trust and a record 38% with "none at all."
Closer
Same logs. No missing pages. All that Watergate cosplay. Correct it as loud as you said it.