The Biden White House did not comment on whether it had seen the contents of the calls. But so far, at least, the National Security Council has not registered any complaints about its ability to access relevant call records from the previous administration.
“It is a national security priority to find out what Trump said to Putin” during his four years in office, said a former national security officer close to the new president. “Some things, like what happened at some face-to-face meetings where no American translator or note taker was present, may never be fully known. But I would be very surprised if the new national security team was not trying to access ”the call logs.
Trump kept his private conversations with foreign leaders closely while in office, going so far as to have some hidden in the NSC’s top secret code word system to limit access by employees and even cabinet members and prevent leaks. Their call readings used to come first from the Kremlin or via Trump’s Twitter feed. But although the calls were not recorded, advisers were usually still on the line and taking notes. The resulting loose transcripts are known as “memcons” or conversation memos.
Trump made a great effort to keep his personal conversations with the Russian leader private, from the confiscation of his interpreter’s notes to the resignation of American translators and note takers at his meetings. This desire for secrecy extended even after his time in office. A former Trump official argued last week that records of Trump’s talks with Putin, which usually lasted an hour or more, should not be made available to his successor.
“There are certain things that a president and his immediate team should have the privilege of doing the government’s work, without being subject to constant party games.” said a second former Trump White House official.
Memcons, including Trump’s ties to Putin, are considered presidential records and were not eliminated before the 45th president stepped down, said a former Trump official at the White House. They were transferred to the National Archives and Records Administration at the end of Trump’s term, as usual.
“Of course we didn’t delete anything and they would be on NARA and accessible,” said the official.
Kel McClanahan, executive director of the National Security Counselors law firm, agreed as a legal issue: “The only person who can claim executive privilege anywhere is the incumbent president,” he said. “So there is literally no situation, nor could there be, where a former president could prevent an incumbent president from seeing something.”
Trump’s interactions with Putin and other Russian officials were certainly far from the normally choreographed conversations between world leaders – Trump at the start of his term even released confidential information to Russian diplomats in the Oval Office.
But former senior Trump advisers said it was rare for Trump to say anything to the Russian leader that he had not already said publicly (or simply let slip out later while complaining about “the Russian hoax”). Marina Gross, who played many of Trump’s calls and meetings with Putin, told associates that listening to their conversations often seemed to spy on two friends talking in a bar, according to a former employee.
Still, the parallel diplomatic campaigns that flourished during the Trump administration are also the main concerns of Biden’s team, as it works to understand the often disconnected policies of the past four years. Trump’s ill-fated connection with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which led to his impeachment, was also hidden in the NSC’s code word system, as were Trump’s connections to the Saudi royal family.
“This is much bigger than just Russia and Putin,” said another former Trump administration official. “It’s a general problem for the new team – basically, trying to figure out what [Trump] promises people on the right and in the center? “
John Eisenberg, the former top NSC attorney for Trump who was involved in making the president’s calls on the top secret server, will now be one of Trump’s representatives handling requests for Biden White House registrations, according to a person familiar with the subject.
Russia’s analysis of the Biden NSC is being conducted in part by the senior director of the council for Russia and Central Asia, Eric Green, a veteran foreign service official who has specialized in Russia at the State Department for years. Green recently replaced Andrea Kendall-Taylor, who left for personal reasons.
The Biden and Trump NSC team consulted on a number of issues, including Russia, during the transition. And the authorities said it was usually complete. In the days and weeks leading up to Biden’s inauguration, Trump’s NSC exit team delivered folders full of material – including intelligence reports, strategy documents and information on ongoing operations – to facilitate a smooth transition.
The new national security team also questioned its predecessors about the obligations and commitments that the Trump administration had made with allies and opponents, including with Russia. Some Trump officials – mainly officials from other federal agencies – remained at the NSC after January 20 for the sake of government continuity and have helped answer new questions from the new NSC.
“We really worked hard to do this well,” said the second former Trump employee, who participated in the process.