The White House severely restricted distribution of memos detailing US President Donald Trump's calls with foreign leaders, including Russia's Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia's Mohammed bin Salman, after embarrassing leaks of his conversations early in his tenure, a former White House official said.
A whistleblower alleges the White House tried to "lock down" Trump's July 25 phone call with Ukraine's new president because officials were worried about Trump's request for help investigating Trump's Democratic rival Joe Biden and the White House tried to cover up the content of other calls by moving memos onto a highly classified computer system.
The former White House official acknowledged that other calls were concealed, while casting the decision as part of an effort to minimise leaks, not an attempt to hide improper discussions. In previous administrations, rough transcripts of presidential phone calls were kept private, but not housed on the highly classified computer system unless sensitive national security information was discussed. Summaries of the calls were distributed to relevant officials in the White House and other agencies. The Trump Administration's process curtailed the number of people who had access.
- AP
