📱 2022-04-07 15:19:52 – Paris/France.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump said he did not destroy White House official log phone call records or use so-called burner phones during the deadly attack on his supporters on January 6, 2021 against the US Capitol, The Washington Message reported Thursday.
Trump, a Republican, told the newspaper that he was not contacted by congressional investigators about the assault, which occurred when then-Vice President Mike Pence and lawmakers came together to certify the November 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden.
Just before the crowd headed for the Capitol, Trump repeated his bogus claims of voter fraud during a noisy rally outside the White House.
The Washington Post reported last week that there was a nearly eight-hour gap in the White House record of Trump calls as riots unfolded just miles away.
Trump told the newspaper he had a "very good" memory but could not remember who he had spoken to that day.
"From a phone call standpoint, I don't recall getting many," he said, according to the Post. "Why would I care who called me?" If members of Congress called me, what difference did it make? There was nothing secret in that. There was no secret. »
Several U.S. lawmakers, including Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy, said they spoke to Trump during the riot.
Trump did not speak for hours in violence. Four people died the day of the attack and a Capitol Police officer who fought with rioters died the following day.
On Wednesday, he defended his public silence and told the Post he has no regrets urging his supporters to come to Washington.
The Jan. 6 select committee led by Democrats in the House of Representatives interviewed about 800 people ahead of public hearings scheduled for May.
Trump, who claimed executive privilege to try to block the Jan. 6 committee from the White House records, said he didn't know what he would do if contacted.
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"It depends on demand," he told the Post.
The committee recently interviewed his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, his top White House advisers.
Trump confirmed he spoke with Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist and wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, during his presidency. He declined to say whether former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows should have given the panel text messages in which she urged Trump to work to overturn the election.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Frank Jack Daniel)
SOURCE: Reviews News
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