Phone Call Transcripts Are More Secret Under Trump Due To Fear Of Leaks

[discobot]

The scars of the leaked transcript of President Trump’s conversation with Mexico in 2017 — in which he told the Mexican president he didn’t actually care if Mexico paid for the wall, his signature campaign promise — have lingered far longer than that news story’s shelf life.

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This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1251170

[erik_t]

Draining the swamp one private phone conversation at a time.

[ANNFFL]

The executive branch has been given too much power. Dangerous. He could have easily sold the country without anyone’s notice.

[Lacuna-Synecdoche]

While Trump is not particularly private about who gets to listen in on his phone calls with foreign leaders, the White House has grown deeply protective of the transcripts of those calls in the Trump era, according to the New York Times. …

… At the beginning of the Trump administration, transcripts were widely distributed among various administration channels. But now, “eyes only” transcripts of calls are shared with the secretary of state and the defense secretary, according to the Times. Both Cabinet officials are not even allowed to make copies of the documents or share them with other officials. No recordings are ever made of the calls, according to the Times.

So, basically, transcripts (instead of recordings) are made of the calls so the administration can leave out, and avoid creating a record of, anything embarrassing or illegal that Trump says. And they are restricted to a small number of advisers to prevent it leaking when he does.

Got it.