The Biden White House did not comment on whether the contents of the calls were seen. But so far the National Security Council has at least not registered any complaints with the ability to access relevant call records from the previous government.
“It’s a national security priority to find out what Trump told Putin ‘during his four years in office,” said one former national security official who is close to the new president. ‘Some things, like what happened in some personal meetings where no American translator or recorder was present, may never be completely known. But I would be very surprised if the new national security team does not try to gain access to the call records.
Trump closely monitored his private conversations with foreign leaders while in office, and went so far as to hide some in the NSC’s top secret system to restrict access to staff and even cabinet members and prevent leaks. Readings of their calls often come first from the Kremlin or through Trump’s Twitter input. But even though the calls were not recorded, assistants were usually still going on and taking notes of what was said. The resulting loose transcripts are known as ‘memcons’ or memoranda of the conversation.
Trump in particular went to great lengths to keep his personal conversations with the Russian leader private, from seizing his interpreting notes to dismissive American translators and informants during their meetings. This desire for secrecy expanded even after his tenure. One former Trump official argued last week that records of Trump’s talks with Putin, which often lasted an hour or more, should not be made available to his successor.
“There are certain things that a president and his immediate staff should have the privilege of being able to do the job of the government, without constantly being subjected to partisan fiddling,” said a second former White House official in Trump.
Memoranda, including Trump’s calls with Putin, are considered presidential records and were not erased until the 45th president left office, said a former Trump White House official. They were transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration at the end of Trump’s term, as is customary.
“Of course we have not deleted anything, and they will be in NARA and accessible,” the official said.
Kel McClanahan, executive director of the law firm National Security Counselors, agrees as a lawsuit: “The only person who can claim executive privilege anywhere is the sitting president,” he said. “So there is literally no situation or a former president who can stop a sitting president from seeing something.”
Trump’s interactions with Putin and other Russian officials were certainly far from the usually carefully choreographed talks between world leaders – Trump went so far as to disclose classified information to Russian diplomats in the Oval Office early in his tenure.
But former senior Trump advisers said it was rare for Trump to say anything to the Russian leader that he had not yet said in public (or later simply blare while complaining about ‘the Russian joke’). Marina Gross, who has interpreted many of Trump’s calls and meetings with Putin, said associates said they were listening to a tapping of two friends in a bar, according to one former official.
Yet the shadow diplomatic campaigns that flourished during the Trump administration are also high in mind for the Biden team, as it works to understand the often divergent policies of the past four years. Trump’s fatal call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which led to his accusation, was also hidden in the NSC code word system, as were Trump’s calls to the Saudi royal family.
“It’s much bigger than just Russia and Putin,” another former Trump administration said. ‘It’s a problem for the new team across the board – to basically try to figure out what did [Trump] promise people left and right? ”
John Eisenberg, the former top lawyer on Trump’s NSC, who was involved in the president’s calls in the top secret server, will, according to one person familiar with the matter, be one of Trump’s representatives who made record requests to the Biden White House handle.
The Biden NSC’s Russia review is led in part by the council’s acting senior director for Russia and Central Asia, Eric Green, a veteran foreign service official who has specialized in the State Department in Russia for many years. Green recently replaced Andrea Kendall-Taylor who left for personal reasons.
The NSC staff of Biden and Trump consulted during the transition on various issues, including Russia. And officials said it was generally thorough. In the days and weeks leading up to Biden’s inauguration, Trump’s retired NSC personnel handed over tapes full of material – including intelligence reports, strategy documents and information on continuing operations – to facilitate a smooth transition.
The incoming national security team also grilled their predecessors at the commitments and commitments made by the Trump administration to allies and opponents, including Russia. Some Trump staff members – mainly details from other federal agencies – remained in the NSC after January 20 for the sake of government continuity and were helpful in answering the questions of the new NSC.
“We tried really hard to do it right,” said the second former Trump official, who participated in the process.