While it’s still too early to believe CNN will retreat from its widespread wokeness, a new report indicates the network may be trying to salvage some of the damage inflicted by former President Jeff Zucker’s wild lurch to the left.
CNN on Friday posted a story compiled by six reporters to explain the seven-hour gap in former President Donald Trump’s phone records on Jan. 6, 2021.
The recent revelation already had liberals licking their chops that Trump was hiding something – or hopefully, in their view, was guilty of breaking some law.
CBS News, for example, seemed almost giddy that records turned over by the previous president seemed incomplete, and suggestive that something nefarious was at hand.
“The lack of an official White House notation of any calls placed to or by Trump for 457 minutes — from 11:17 a.m. to 6:54 p.m. — on January 6, 2021, means there is no record of the calls made by Trump as his supporters descended on the U.S. Capitol,” CBS News noted. “The 11 pages of records — which consist of the president’s official daily diary and the White House switchboard call log — were turned over by the National Archives earlier this year to the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack.”
But because CNN actually acted like a news network for a change, instead of a left-wing PAC, and easily explained the gap.
In a report on Friday, CNN noted that the issue is largely due to an antiquated phone system at the White House, which dates to 1963.
As CNN reported, “The mystery of the seven-hour gap has fueled furious speculation as to why calls are missing. That includes allegations that Trump was using ‘burner phones’ (which he has denied) or that the logs were purposely suppressed. But the gap might have a less mysterious explanation.”
“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,” CNN explained. “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.”
In fact, in this regard, Trump shared the phone habits of a predecessor beloved by the media – former President Barack Obama.
CNN noted that there could be “various reasons that explain the gap in the call log itself.”
For instance, Trump used a cell phone, either his or someone else’s.
Or Trump had aides make direct calls from the Oval Office, which would bypass the White House 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,” CNN noted.
“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.”
Then, there is the issue of where Trump was when he made certain calls.
All of the calls in the Jan. 6 log were from the White House residence, which indicates Trump relied on the switchboard to put those calls through. “The missing calls appear to start when the diary notes Trump has moved from the residence to the Oval Office,” CNN reported.
“Two former Trump officials believe this, plus the chaotic nature of the West Wing on January 6, is what led to the gaps in the call logs,” CNN added.
“Official review of Trump phone logs from January 6 finds (the) record is complete.”
CNN deserves credit for looking into the issue. It likely does not mean the network has moved toward the center in its political reporting. But, in at least this one instance, it was willing to go deeper than its competitors, and provide an honest assessment. That’s progress.
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