> And of course myself and my team took the blame for not preparing ahead of time.
If your initial request was not logged and then able to be retrieved by yourself in defence, then I would say something is very wrong at your company.
You are suggesting a level of due process that is wildly optimistic for most companies. If you are an IC, such blame games are entirely resolved behind closed doors by various managers and maybe PMs. Your manager may or may not ask you for supporting documentation, and may or may not be able to present it before the "retrospective" is concluded.
But regardless, I already left there a few years back.