Trump's transcript of Ukraine call unlikely to be verbatim Evelyn Farkas, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense during the Obama presidency, said not only would any so-called transcript be based on notes, but it would also likely be incomplete because the note-takers usually do not include issues that could be controversial if they became public.
Typically a note-taker will write notes about what the principal says in a fashion that does not embarrass their principal, said Farkas. A former White House senior official concurred there was unlikely to be a recording.