Shortly after the White House released the transcript of the April 21 call between Presidents Trump and Zelensky, it was quickly pointed out that there were major discrepancies between what was released this morning and the readout given to the press at the time:
This seems notable. There's no mention of combatting corruption in the first transcript of Trump's call with Zelensky, despite the White House telling reporters in an April readout that rooting out corruption was discussed. I've asked the White House to explain the discrepancy.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 15, 2019
You can read it for yourself here. At issue is that back in April, the readout said the two discussed corruption. That’s missing from the transcript released this morning:
Here's the April readout from the White House press office on @realDonaldTrump's call with Zelensky and the actual transcript. Hard to see how they represent the same call.https://t.co/NGtHrqrfsn pic.twitter.com/V1sluENr1R
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) November 15, 2019
And a few minutes ago, Deputy Press Sec. Hogan Gidley released a statement blaming Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman — the NSC’s Ukraine expert — for the differences:
The White House got back to us (and everyone) just now. Hogan Gidley says it's standard operating procedure for the NSC to provide the readouts. "This one was prepared by the NSC’s Ukraine expert.” That would be Alex Vindman, who testifies publicly Tuesday.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) November 15, 2019
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Gidley’s full statement here:
The White House has issued a statement that appears to blame Alexander Vindman for the divergence between the White House readout of the April call and the rough transcript the White House released today, which didn't show Trump mentioning corruption or sovereignty. Via @Acosta: pic.twitter.com/MHzLf3TXRV
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) November 15, 2019
Vindman is still at the White House:
WH throws Vindman under the bus. He still works at the WH. https://t.co/ab5meUrYUq
— Marshall Cohen (@MarshallCohen) November 15, 2019
And this should make his testimony next week a little more interesting:
Something for Vindman to address during his upcoming testimony! https://t.co/SuQfv0NTrh
— Philip Bump (@pbump) November 15, 2019
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