Inside the Oval Office from a Former White House Stenographer

WASHINGTON - Beck Dorey-Stein has been a "fly on the wall" in one of the most important rooms in the world -- the White House Oval Office. As a former stenographer for the White House, Dorey-Stein has heard and seen it all.

Her book, "From the Corner of the Oval" tells her story navigating her career as a stenographer, as well as travels around the world.

Dorey-Stein says she was looking to work a law firm and work her way up as a paralegal when she found the job posting.

"I got the job on Craigslist. I was not expecting to end up at the White House. We would carry microphones and almost like the president's professional stalker where we just kind of hide behind them and make sure we catch audio especially whenever he's present with the press to make sure that he's accurately quoted."

But when the meeting was in the Oval Office, Dorey-Stein says stenographers put down their recorders and get to sit on the opposite side of the room and just listen.

The stenographer's office is bi-partisan, with many serving under several past presidents.

Dorey-Stein, who left the White House Stenographer's office in 2017 said her boss there had been working in the department since the Reagan Administration.

However, Dorey-Stein says the role has changed with the current administration. The Trump Administration has not been using stenographers as often as presidents in the past.

Dorey-Stein says the stenographers provide transcripts to the press office, the presidential archive, as well as the press for public statements.

"The role of the stenograph we are not partisan. We make sure that everyone sees everything we listen to the audio over and over again to make sure that we're getting it just right," she said.

And while President Trump often says that he was misquoted or a story from the press is inaccurate, Dorey-Stein says "it's a little dangerous because that means the president isn't getting the official White House transcript which means he's more vulnerable to being misquoted."

"It would be really helpful to have a stenographer in the room because then he wouldn't have to worry about fake news. Here's the official White House transcript we were in the room."

See Beck Dorey-Stein talk with Maureen Umeh and Allison Seymor in the player above.