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There was a recent meeting in the White House where Pelosi and Schumer walked out. Unsurprisingly the Democrats and Republicans have slightly different versions of what happened - Democrats making the claim that Trump was having a meltdown and calling people names and Republicans claiming the exact opposite.

Is there any way for the public to know what actually happens inside these meetings?

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  • Are you sure you're not confusing Pelosi and Trump? Trump tweeted Nervous Nancy's unhinged meltdown!.
    – JJJ ♦
    Oct 17, 2019 at 8:05
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    @JJJ In an interview Pelosi said Trump was having a "meltdown" with others other Democrats detailing the name-calling and such that lead to their leaving... apparently Trump just thinks the best way to refute their claim is more name-calling on Twitter. Even more-inconsistent, the White House Press Secretary said the walkout was "baffling" with no mention of a heated discussion.
    – CrackpotCrocodile
    Oct 17, 2019 at 8:17
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    At heart this question asks if meetings in the White House between the President and leaders of congress are neutrally documented for the public to view. That has to be one of the most straightforward political process questions ever. Is it being down voted because the answer is simply "No, do not be so naive"?
    – Jontia
    Oct 17, 2019 at 8:42
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    @Jonita I think the initial focus on one specific scenario made people think Burt was asking us to judge this specific case. I put your wording of the question into the title to make the generality of the question clearer
    – divibisan
    Oct 17, 2019 at 15:25
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    Further clarity as to whether the question is about the public having a [neutral] record of the meetings contemporaneously, or whether the meetings are covered by the Presidential Records Act or similar archival requirements.
    – user4556274
    Oct 17, 2019 at 17:12

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If the meeting was recorded on film (I've seen still pictures only, but it implies someone is watching from a camera) it will likely be on CSPAN's website. C-SPAN provides un-moderated coverage of congress and other events related to the U.S. Federal Government (and the U.K. Canada, and Australian governments). This means the footage of the meeting can be viewed from start to finish to determine who said what, when they said it, what prompt they had, and immediate reaction. Do not view while operating heavy machinery as C-SPAN does is not just an uncommitted recording of everything said by public officials in official capacity, but also a powerful cure for insomnia.

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  • And in the specific case in the question. c-span.org/person/?nancypelosi Looks like no CSPAN footage of the meeting itself.
    – Jontia
    Oct 17, 2019 at 21:06
  • @Jontia: I would also recommend checking news agencies for any footage of the event as it happened (Usually, news media will mark the tape as "Raw" or similar, noting that the footage presented is unedited and uncommented aside from the remarks made by those on scene). This is less likely but possible. Additionally, have you searched for White House meetings? It might not ping under Pelosi as the event was in the white house and thus would be filed closer to that. Also check whitehouse.gov for any footage they released of the event but make sure you verify it is the raw footage.
    – hszmv
    Oct 18, 2019 at 15:45

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