President Donald Trump put a new spin on his now-infamous July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the center of a whistleblower’s complaint that spurred the House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.
During an event where U.S.-Japan trade agreements were signed at the White House Monday, Trump defended the July call during which he pressured Zelensky to concoct dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter and said anyone can read about his “perfect” call because there is a “stenographer report” of it.
That’s not the case.
The White House’s release of a “memorandum” of the call between Trump and Zelensky last month included a disclaimer stating that it is “not a verbatim transcript.”
“The text in this document records the notes and recollections of the Situation Room Duty Officers and NSC policy staff assigned to listen and memorialize the conversation in written form as the conversation takes place. A number of factors can affect the accuracy of the record, including poor telecommunications connections and variations in accent and/or interpretation,” the disclaimer continued.
