'Largely verbatim': Situation Room CIA veterans say Trump transcript likely complete and accurate
by Caitlin Yilek
| September 25, 2019 05:26 PM
Two former CIA officers who were veterans of the Situation Room said that the system in place at the White House ensured that the transcript of President Trump's conversation with the Ukraine president was "likely verbatim."
The White House took the rare step of releasing a transcript of a president’s call with a foreign leader on Wednesday after a whistleblower complaint sparked an uproar over whether President Trump improperly pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate his potential 2020 election rival Joe Biden.
The five-page document detailed a July 25 call between the two leaders that lasted 30 minutes. The transcript’s release prompted more scrutiny, with some questioning whether the document was complete. A note at the bottom of the first page indicated the document was “not a verbatim transcript of a discussion†but a record of “the notes and recollections of Situation Room Duty Officers†and National Security Council policy staff who are assigned to listen to the call.
The director of the White House Situation Room typically manages such calls, said Larry Pfeiffer, who served in the position under President Barack Obama. The directors are usually a senior CIA officer or someone in a senior role in the military, Pfeiffer told the Washington Examiner.
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