OK, here comes weirdness.
My FOIA request was indeed processed, and the requested photocopy of my asylum application is here.
However, I can see in it that an event - an arrest followed by release without charges during a pro-democracy rally many years ago in my COP - which I was discussing with the A.O. at the time of the interview had not been updated to the application by the A.O. I was always under impression the A.O. wrote that down. How can this be? The A.O. had me sign the application at the end of that interview, and only one numbered correction was listed: a small entry on the 1st page that read "has H1B1 status now", but nothing else. If I remember correctly, at the end of that interview, I signed two papers; the app itself and something else. Could the A.O. have written down my recollection of that arreest event on that separate paper I vaguely remember signing? Why would the A.O. not change answer to "yes" on the app itself and update it further with my short description of the event? How can this be?