Thread by @JMHendersonSr

Ever since @realDonaldTrump declassified and released the Memorandum of Call, #conspiracytheorists have FOCUSED on the appearance of #ellipses in the #memorandum.

@trumpwarroom
@davidwohl
@parscale
@marc_lotter
@DanScavino

Here's an example.

This was tweeted by Jennifer Bendery
@jbendery, Senior politics reporter for @HuffPost HuffPost and VP of #WashingtonPressClubFoundation:

There is a slew of tweets bearing this same insinuation, that the call summary omits matters of substance or significance. You can see them by doing an advanced search on @Twitter:

twitter.com/search?q=Ukrai…

The Memorandum of Call can be read here:

whitehouse.gov/wp-content/upl…

For readers in #RioLinda, an ellipsis is a closely placed set of three periods or dots.

AS SO OFTEN OCCURS in the English language, disputes exist over how ellipses (plural of ellipsis) should be used.

Variations include that each period should be separated by a space and there should be no spacing between. Style and usage guides go to war, as it were.

One of my favorite #CLE instructors and author on English grammar and usage in legal writing, @BryanAGarner, has a view on how to use ellipses: lawprose.org/lawprose-lesso…

The @ChicagoManual has a view, or two, as well:

chicagomanualofstyle.org/search.html?cl…

Two distinct possibilities that the use of #ellipses proposes are, first, the omission of words, phrases, or sentences from the original text, and, second, a trailing off of expression.

The former use of ellipses tells us that words have been omitted. Such omission need not be malign or suspect; rather, in editing, ellipses may spare a subsequent reader the task of reading unessential verbiage.

The latter use of ellipses can aid in the creation of a sense of the speaker. When so used, the ellipsis essentially advises that the speaker's voice has trailed off, or there has occurred a pause, perhaps a pregnant one, or otherwise.

Now, about that #MemorandumofCall.

There are six ellipses in the Memorandum. If you download the Memo from the #WhiteHouse site and use the search feature in your #PDF reader, you can find all six of them, although three are occluded by a red stamp, reading UNCLASSIFIED.

Here are all six of the instances in which ellipses were used by the authors of the call memorandum.

First, here are two ellipses that appear in the same paragraph. I've added the red circles to assist in finding the ellipses.

Second, here is the third ellipsis, which appears alone in another paragraph:

Then, finally, there are three occluded ellipses. These aren't obvious to the naked eye but I found them by searching the document in PDF format:

Now, for #conspiracytheorists convinced that @POTUS or those serving him have edited the actual transcript of the call, today was the #terriblehorribleverybadnogood day.

Why, you ask, is this ***that*** day?

Because this was the day when a witness called by the @DNC testified that the call summary is the transcript and that we, who have read the transcript/memo, are aware of the contents of the call.

Follow along:

#LtColVindman appears for a deposition conducted by the @houseintelligen ce Committee. Vindman, a Ukrainian American, has served on the staff of the National Security Council as its #Ukraine expert. He listened in on the Trump-Zelensky telephone call in July 2019.

The #HouseIntelligenceCommittee sought #Vindman's testimony because it is claimed he listened in on the call and was so disturbed by its content that he reported it to the @WHNSC' #LegalCounsel.

In aid of his testimony, #Vindman submitted a written statement.

You can read Vindman's statement here: d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2019/10…

You really should read his statement.

And not because he is going to sink the #presidency of @RealDonaldTrump.

No.

Read his statement because in one simple statement he eradicates every #conspiracytheorist #wetdream about those enigmatic ellipses.

Did you see it, on Page 5 of #Vindman's statement?

Here:

Now, do you see it?

Here, let me help you:

A direct witness to the call has said

a. the TRANSCRIPT is in the public record

and, more importantly,

b. WE ARE ALL AWARE OF WHAT WAS SAID.

No.

The ellipses in the call memorandum are not evidence of hidden text or subtext. Or, that is, unless #LtColVindman is a lying sack of sh*t they aren't.

Because we've got it straight from Vindman: the TRANSCRIPT is in the public record and we all know what was said.

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