Late night hosts puzzle out Trump's 7-hour Jan. 6 call gap, burner phones, and Cawthorn's GOP orgy mess

The Jan. 6 committee is "closing in" on former President Donald Trump, and they seem to have found "a poorly executed cover-up," with seven hours and 37 minutes of Trump's phone records missing from the period on Jan. 6 when Trump supporters were storming the Capitol and we know Trump called GOP lawmakers, Stephen Colbert said on Tuesday's Late Show. The House committee is investigating whether Trump used "burner phones" in that period, and Colbert seemed unimpressed with Trump's denial he's ever heard that term.
Also in Washington, Rep. Madison Cawthorn's (R-N.C.) "claims of cocaine-fueled fiscally conservative flesh pits ruffled a few Republican feathers — which Cawthorn says they use to decorate their Eyes Wide Shut masks," Colbert joked. "I can understand why they're upset: By not naming names, Cawthorn has implicated the entire GOP. I mean, the guy with the orgy and cocaine could be any Matt Gaetz."

"The unintentional consequence of all of this is to make orgies and cocaine sound incredibly uncool," James Corden said on The Late Late Show. "After a Republican meeting today, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said that he's going to have some tough questions for Cawthorn — questions like, 'Where are these parties, exactly? Do you take anything with you?'"
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Reports that Trump used disposable burner phones on Jan. 6 "raised a lot of questions, so the former president released an official statement last night — to announce that he made a hole in one while playing golf," Corden said. "It was a more-than-200-word statement, on official Donald Trump letterhead."
With his totally real hole-in-one description, Trump "finally went North Korean dictator on us, but I'm okay with it — even if it isn't true, these are the kind of Trump lies we can handle," Jimmy Kimmel said on Kimmel Live. The seven-hour gap in Trump's Jan. 6 phone records are not.
Despite Trump's denials, "his former national security advisers, John Bolton, today revealed that he and Trump have spoken about how people use burner phones to to avoid having their calls scrutinized," Kimmel said. "Whenever Trump doesn't know something, he claims to know everything about it," but "when it comes to things he might get in trouble for, all of a sudden he's like, 'Hey, burner phones? I never heard of them. Hookers? What are those?'"

"Yep, seven hours are missing — even the ghost of Richard Nixon is like, 'I don't think you can do that,'" Jimmy Fallon joked on The Tonight Show.
The Late Show did figure out one of Trump's unidentified call recipients, at least.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Aston Martin Vantage Roadster: 'a rare treat indeed'
The Week Recommends The Roadster version of Aston Martin's new Vantage coupé makes even 'the most mundane journey feel special'
-
Bad Friend: Tiffany Watt Smith explores why women abandon friendships
The Week Recommends A 'deeply researched' account of female friendship through history
-
Brazil's reborn dolls craze
Under The Radar The 'hyper-realistic' babies soaring in popularity in South American nation have spawned controversy
-
Dutch government falls over immigration policy
speed read The government collapsed after anti-immigration politician Geert Wilders quit the right-wing coalition
-
South Korea elects liberal Lee as president
speed read Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, was elected president following months of political instability in the wake of Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment
-
Nationalist wins tight Polish presidential election
speed read Karol Nawrocki beat Rafal Trzaskowski in Poland's presidential runoff election
-
Ukraine hits Russia's bomber fleet in stealth drone attack
speed read The operation, which destroyed dozens of warplanes, is the 'biggest blow of the war against Moscow's long-range bomber fleet'
-
Starving Gazans overrun US-backed food aid hub
speed read Israeli troops fired warning shots at the Palestinians
-
Israel's Western allies pull back amid Gaza escalation
speed read Britain and the EU are reconsidering allegiance with Israel as the Gaza siege continues
-
Trump drops ceasefire demand after Putin call
speed read Following a phone call with Russia's president, Trump backed off an earlier demand that Putin agree to an immediate ceasefire with Ukraine
-
Pro-EU centrist beats Trump acolyte in Romania vote
speed read The mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, defeated hard-right nationalist George Simion in the race for Romania's presidency