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My notes on SC’s 89-76 loss to Gonzaga

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Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA was founded in 1887 by Italian-American Joseph Cataldo, who had come in 1865 as a Jesuit missionary to the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest. The Jesuits purchased 320 acres in the city's central business district for $936. The Northern Pacific Railway was holding the land in reserve, but Cataldo convinced railroad executive John W. Sprague to allow the sale to build the school. It has an enrollment of 7295, 4852 undergrads.

GU’s official nickname is Bulldogs, but unofficially they are the Zags, a name even used on their basketball jerseys in the 1960's and 70's. Mascot: Spike the Bulldog, Student section: Kennel Club, Fight song: Go Gonzaga! Colors: Navy blue, white and red,

Gonzaga's first intercollegiate teams were the Blue and White, two of the team’s colors. After the start of football in 1892, Gonzaga's teams of the early 1910's were also called 'Fighting Irish,' for their desire to become the Notre Dame of the West. Dr. Henry Luhn, a member of Notre Dame's very first football team, formed the team. Gonzaga's most famous football coach Gus Dorais was also a Notre Dame alumnus. Due to a budget crisis with the stadium and football program, Gonzaga officially dropped football following the 1941 season. Thus, Gonzaga is a basketball school!

Their first basketball season was 1907-08 and they sport an all-time record of 1426-713 (.667). GU was Independent until 1963, then in the Big Sky Conference until 1979, when they joined the West Coast Conference (WCC).

WCC Preseason Poll: 1. St. Mary’s, 2. Gonzaga, 3. USF, 4. LMU, 5. Santa Clara, 6. Portland, 7. Pepperdine, 8. Pacific, 9. USD

Gonzaga has a rich basketball history:

2 NCAA Finals - 2017 (lost to UNC, 2021 lost to Baylor), 2 Final Fours, 6 Elite Eights, 13 Sweet Sixteen’s, 24 NCAA Appearances (44-25, .639).

AP AA’s – 1st team (Dan Dickau 2002, Adam Morrison 2006, Kelly Olynyk 2013, Corey Kispert 2021), 2nd team (Frank Burgess 1961, Blake Stepp 2004, Kyle Wiltjer 2015, Nigel Williams-Goss 2017, Rui Hachimura 2019, Drew Timme 2021/22/23, Jalen Suggs 2021, Chet Holmgren 2022)

20 WCC POY awards, 2 nations leading scorers: 1961 Frank Burgess 32.4 ppg; 2006 Adam Morrison 28.6 ppg, 30 players drafted into NBA (13 in 1st rd!), 9 current NBA players, 5 retired numbers: 3 - Adam Morrison, 12 - John Stockton, 13 - Kelly Olynyk, 21 – Dan Dickau, 44 – Frank Burgess.

Mark Few (25th yr as head coach) has a 693 -136 .836 record and has been WCC COY 14 times. Few and protégé AZ Coach Tommy Lloyd were masters at international player recruiting, and this roster has four: Canadian Nembhard a starter and (Serbia, Croatia and Korea all reserves).

GU was 31-6 last season, losing to UConn in the Elite Eight. This season, No. 11 Gonzaga is 5-1 (wins: Yale, Eastern Oregon, Syracuse, #24 ucla, CSU Bakersfield; loss to #2 Purdue).

GU averages 83.0 ppg (49.6% FG, 30.9% 3FG, 66.7% FT), Rebounds 44.2 rpg (+13.4 margin), 14.5 assists/g, 7.2 steals/g, 3.0 blocks/g, TOs 12.3/g, (-0.6 margin)

SC averages 79.3 ppg (46.7% FG, 38.5 % 3FG, 76.5% FT), Rebounds 37.4 rpg (+1.1 margin), 14.9 assists/g, 6.4 steals/g, 5.9 blocks/g, TOs 13.6/g (-0.5 margin)

GU has 5 players averaging double figures: Anton Watson 15.7 ppg (65.1% FG! 44.4% 3FG, 47.1% FT), Nolan Hickman 13.5 ppg (44.4% FG, 29.6% 3FG, 90% FT), Graham Ike 13.3 (56.4% FG, 44.4% 3FG, 73.7% FT), Ryan Nembhard 13.0 (40.5% FG, 19% 3FG, 77.8% FT) – brother Andrew was a star at Gonzaga and is playing for the Indiana Pacers. Braden Huff 11.5 (62.2% FG, 46.7% 3FG, 54.5% FT).

Rebounds leader - Watson 8.8 reb/g, Ike 7.7 rpg. Assists - Nembhard 5.3/g, Watson 2.5/g. Steals – Nembhard 1.3/g, Blocks – Ike 1.3/g

SC has the Big 3 averaging double figures: Boogie 22.4 ppg (49.5% FG, 47.5% 3FG, 79.3% FT), Isaiah 17.3 ppg (52.2% FG, 40% 3FG, 73.5% FT), Kobe 13.0 ppg (43.5% FG, 34.5% 3FG, 77.8% FT)

Reb leader – Josh 4.9 rpg, Vince 4.8, Kobe 4.5 rpg, Assists – Collier 4.5 apg, Boogie 3.3 apg, Steals- Kobe 2.7 stpg, Boogie 1.6, Blocks Josh 2.8 bpg, Kobe 1.2 bpg

USC is 2-1 all-time against the Bulldogs, falling in the last meeting in the Elite Eight of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, 85-66.

Pregame

This Legends of Basketball Las Vegas Invitational game is the nightcap of a double header which featured Colorado State vs UW in the first game. UW was unable to complete the football - basketball sweep as football beat the Phil Knight ducks 34-31 (Yay!!) in the Pac-12 Championship, but basketball lost to No. 20 CSU 86-81.

Getting out of the Uber at the MGM Grand we see Desmond Farmer getting out of the car in front of us. I hoped that was a good sign. The Grand Garden Arena is literally in the MGM Grand and was a decent venue for the game. When we walked in there was still a smattering of fans from the prior game but as usual the Zag fans always travel well. It was hard to gage how many SC fans were there as we were all scattered and some of the Zag fans wore red, though most wore blue. The arena has a 16,800-seat capacity (8116 announced attendance for this game).

Oh crap, Pac-12 refs! Not a welcome sight! SwaggyP, Nick Young arrives fashionably late with his young daughter and takes a seat next to the team. Props to Nick for always supporting SC.

The Game

GU starts: Ryan Nembhard, Dusty Stromer (Sherman Oaks ND HS), Graham Ike (Wyoming transfer), Nolan Hickman, Anton Watson – they would all play major minutes with only 2 subs in the rotation – Ben Gregg and Braden Huff.

SC continued to start Boogie, Isaiah, Kobe, Josh and DJ, but 5 others were in the rotation.

From the tipoff, I did not like what I was seeing from SC. They were very flat, had no energy and were not ready for primetime against a basketball blueblood. How could they not be hyped for this game? This was very disappointing! They really needed this win for their post-season resume, after losing with key players out to UCI and in a heartbreaker to Oklahoma.

The Zags would start fast going up 15-2 as SC struggled to put the ball in the basket, despite open looks, missing on 7 of their first 8 shots. SC trailed by as many as 14 pts (20-6 at 13:25 mark), before going to the locker room down by 7 (44-37). No halftime entertainment for this one, even in the self-proclaimed Entertainment Capital of the World!

I hoped Enfield’s enforcer Assoc. Head Coach Chris Capko was chewing out the Trojans for their lackluster first half play and the slow start! They needed a kick in the pants to get them fired up for the second half.

Alas, it was more of the same to start the second half – UN-expletive deleted-BELIEVABLE! How can this team not respond better? I just don’t understand.

Gonzaga stretched the 7-pt halftime lead to 15 pts (56-41) in less than 5 minutes. They would have their largest lead of the game at 18 pts at 79-61 and 81-63 at 4:24 and would cruise to an 89-76 victory over the Trojans.

The Zags would outperform their season stats in this one: shooting 52.3% FG, 54.5% 3FG and 75% FT for the game.

Conversely SC would shoot 47% FG, a dismal 27.3% 3FG (6-22) and a pathetic 47.1% FT (8-17 and 1-8 in the 1st half!) – you can’t beat teams shooting like this, especially good teams.

Boogie was the only one who came to play and produced. He played 39 min, scored a team-high 28 pts (12-21 FG, 4-9 3FGs), had 7 rebs, 4 assists, 2 steals and only 1 TO. He did not have a single TO in the 2 games in San Diego.

Collier had 14 pts (6-14 FG, 0-1 3FG, 2-6 FT), 4 rebs, 6 assists, 3 TO and a steal. He always plays all out and at times resorts to bullying his way to the basket. When he did this, he was always met by 2 Zags who were very physical with him, but obvious hacks were not being whistled. He’s a frosh and is figuring it out. I still wouldn’t trade him for any FR in the country. He has cut his TOs the last 2 games increasing his assists/turnover ratio. His shots were off today, but he has been consistently good all season and I expect a quick turnaround.

Kobe had a bad day, he was out of sync with 2 quick fouls and in 29 min scored only 7 pts (3-10 FG, 1-6 3FG - most were open looks). He had 3 rebs and an assist, a steal and a block.

Vince had 6 pts, DJ 5, Josh 5, Harry 2 and Oziyah and Kijani did not score in their 5 mins. The best supporting performance by a non-member of the Big 3 goes to ---envelope please ---Arrinten Page who had his career highs of 22 min, 9 pts and 4 rebounds. He is very athletic and has the most upside of any of our bigs, except for maybe Vince.

The Zags had balanced scoring, their lowest scorer being Anton Watson with 9, he came in as their top scorer. Nembhard and Stromer had 15 each, Ike and Gregg 14, Huff 12 and Hickman 10. Their 2-man bench scored 26 pts compared to 17 for our 5-man bench.

This game, although close a few times, was really a blowout for the Zags as they beat SC 89-76.

The No. 11 Zags move to 6-1, SC falls to 5-3.

Although most prognosticators picked SC second behind Arizona, there are many Pac-12 teams playing better ball than the Trojans at this point. How will they respond? Having Bronny will help, but the whole team needs to look in the mirror and step up. The Big 3 can only do so much! They need help from the rest of the players. The young guys need to grow up quickly, the team needs to play better defense (heretofore a hallmark of Enfield teams) and they need to play with a sense of urgency, because the Pac-12 is not going to be an easy conference to win or even finish in the upper half.

We need to do better SC!

Fight on! Beat the Beach!
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It’s Miller Time

A
let’s see what this offense looks like when it has to be “on schedule.” Not a lot of school ball going on without CW. He might do better than you think. Get the ball out on time. Stay ahead of the chains. I want to see quick pass game. Slants, bubble, arrow, stick, outs, hooks, bubble and go, wheel routes, and plenty of reverses to slow the pass rush. My .02. A little early, but just thinking about Miller getting some PT.
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THE SHOW TRIAL: Did Deutsche Bank Just Destroy New York AG's Case Against Trump?

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A Deutsche Bank executive may have just tanked New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit against former President Donal Drump - which revolved around portraying the German lender as Trump's biggest victim in an alleged scheme to inflate his assets in order to obtain favorable terms from banks and insurers.



David Williams, who directly worked on at least one of several loans obtained by Trump over several decades, testified on Tuesday in Manhattan that it's "atypical, but not entirely unusual" for a bank to internally slash a client's stated asset values by 50% and approve a loan anyway, as they did with Trump, Bloombergreports.

"It just depends on the circumstances," said Williams, a managing director at the bank.

Deutsche Bank, which loaned hundreds of millions of dollars to Trump for properties in Miami, Chicago and Washington, cut his stated net worth in 2011 and 2012 from about $4.2 billion to $2.3 billion, according to internal bank credit memos.
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The same documents indicated the bank approved the loans anyway because it expected them to generate a profit based on Trump’s history of successful developments and other criteria.
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Trump, who denies wrongdoing and claims the case is politically motivated, is calling to the stand this week four current and former Deutsche Bank employees — including the family’s former private banker Rosemary Vrablic — as part of his defense case, seeking to flip the script on the state’s version of events. -Bloomberg
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The testimony completely undermines AG James' premise, that Trump defrauded the German bank.

"As part of our due diligence, we subject a client’s asset value to adjustments,"said Williams.
"It’s part of our underwriting process we apply it to every client regardless of what’s reported."
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"Is a difference of opinion in asset values between the client and the bank a disqualifying factor to extend credit?" Trump attorney Jesus Suarez asked Williams.
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"No," he replied.
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"Why not?"
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"It’s just a difference of opinion," Williams continued.
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"I think we expect clients to provide information to be accurate."
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Victimless crime?​

Trump and two of his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, testified earlier in the trial that no banks had been victimized by the alleged inflated valuation, and that various lenders had made millions of dollars in interest on the loans. Trump also argued that his name, and the potential for future development, was a factor in the previous valuations.

Blocks your path...
James, an activist Democrat AG, says that Trump and his company falsified documents to banks and insurers. The judge in the case, Arthur Engoron, has similarly proven himself to be a partisan operative and not a neutral arbiter.

Justice Aurthur Engoron, who is overseeing the case, held Trump liable for fraud on the eve of trial, resolving the biggest claim in the case and putting Trump’s control of his assets at risk.
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The trial is focusing on six remaining claims, as well as penalties. The state is seeking the return of $250 million in “illegal profit” and a ban on Trump and his sons from serving as directors or officers of any New York-based company. -Bloomberg
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Could this be a more transparent show trial?​

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I'm not kidding, Riley!

TrojanGiftHorse
You took over a tough situation, but this season was somewhat of a repudiation of Who You Are. You made your choice with the defensive coordinator, and he is an intriguing coaching talent, but you are not done! Either you are a head coach, or you are an offensive coordinator; you cannot do both (at least not very well). Pick up a real offensive coordinator, teach him your scheme, and hand him the keys so that you can focus on being the head man.
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My Notes on SC's 106-78 win over Eastern Washington

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Eastern Washington University was founded in 1882 on an 8-acre site, as the Benjamin P. Cheney Academy, after a generous contribution of $10,000 from Benjamin P. Cheney, a wealthy transportation industrialist fulfilled the dreams of Cheney citizens for an institute for higher learning in their community.

Located in the northern Palouse near Spokane, EWU sits on 330-acres and has a student population of 12,607 (8217 undergrad). It is one of only three universities in the nation with a research facility in a national wildlife refuge.

EWU's nickname is The Eagles, although from 1923-1973, they were the Savages, represented as a male American Indian. EWU mascot is Swoop the Eagle, the student section is called The Flight Club.

It’s 12 varsity men’s and women’s sports play in the Big Sky conference (since 1987). It claims 3 national championships: Football 2010 Div. I FCS, Wrestling 1977 – NAIA, Men’s cross-country 1982 Div. II.

Notable sports alums: WR Cooper Cupp (LA Rams), DE Samson Ebukam (IND Colts), WR Kendrick Bourne (NE Pats).
First Men’s Basketball season was 1903-04, 1408-1205 (.539) all-time record, 5 conference regular season and 3 tournament championships, 3 NCAA appearances (2004 loss to #4 OK St, 2015 loss to #22 Georgetown, 2021 loss to #11 Kansas), 18 20+ win seasons, 1946 30+ wins, 2 NIT appearances (1W-2L).

3 NBA draft selections: Ron Cox Cleveland Cavs 1977 6th rd, Rodney Stuckey Detroit Pistons 2007 1st rd, Tyler Harvey Orlando Magic 2015 2nd rd

5 AP AA Honorable Mentions– Alvin Snow, Rodney Stuckey, Tyler Harvey, Jacob Wiley, Bogdan Bliznyuk

2 retired jerseys Rodney Stuckey and Ron Cox

The 20th head coach in EWU history is David Riley, promoted after 10 seasons as assistant at EWU. This is his 3rd season. Was a 2021-22 Joe B. Hall Award finalist (top D-I first year coach) and was 2022-23 Big Sky Coach of the Year after the Eagles won the conference with a 23-11 (16-2 in Big Sky) record.

Big Sky Preseason Media Poll

1. Weber State, 2. Eastern Washington, 3. Montana, 4. Montana St, 5. Sacramento St, 6. Portland St, 7. Idaho St, 8. Northern Arizona, 9. Northern Colorado, 10. Idaho

The Eagles are currently 1-4 in the midst of a long road trip to raise money for the program. Their losses were at Utah, at Ole Miss, at Cincinnati, at Stanford, at WSU and the only win vs. Walla Walla University in their home Holiday Classic.

SC has met EWU just once before in a 2005 second round game of the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage an SC win 69-51 behind 25 pts from Nick Young (SwaggyP). The 2005 Trojans were led by the late great freshman PG Ryan “Franchise” Francis – tragically murdered at age 19, in a drive by shooting on a Mother’s Day visit to his hometown of Baton Rouge, LA.

EWU averages 73.7 ppg (-7.0 margin) on 45.3% FG, 32.5% 3FG, 68.9% FT. Average 32.8 rebs/g (-4.0 margin), 17.3 assists, 6.3 steals, 1.5 blocks/g and have 14.2 TO/g (-2.7 margin).

Scoring for EWU: Cedric Coward 13.0 ppg (50.8% FG, 32.0% 3FG, 90.9% FT), Casey Jones 11.3 ppg (50% FG, 22.2% 3FG, 65.1% FT), Ethan Price 10.5 ppg (42.3% FG, 30.8% 3FG, 78.6% FT). If you go down their roster at 7.2 ppg you find a familiar name - Jake Kyman (ucla > Wyoming- where he was teammates with Ethan Anderson and Max Agbonkpolo (2X as they were HS teammates at Santa Margarita Catholic)).

LeJuan Watts leads EWU with 5.7 rebs/g, Coward 5.3; Ellis Magnuson leads with 3.5 assists, Casey Jones with 1.5 steals and 3 players average 0.3 blocks.

SC averages 74.8 ppg (+7.6 margin) on 44.6% FG, 36.4% 3FG, 76.1% FT. Average 37.7 rebs/g (0.0 margin), 13.3 assists, 6.5 steals, 6.0 blocks/g and have14.7 TO/g (-1.5 margin).

Scoring for SC: Boogie 20.2 ppg (43.8% FG, 40% 3FG, 77.8% FT); Collier 18.2 ppg (52.9% FG, 41.2% 3FG, 76.9% FT), Kobe 14.8 ppg (45.5% FG, 42.1% 3FG, 84.6% FT). The rest of the team combines to average 25.9 ppg, led by Josh’s 6.5 ppg.

Collier leads with 36 FGs, Boogie with 16 3FGs, Collier with 30 FTs. Josh leads with a remarkable 84.2% FG (16/19), Collier with 42.1% 3FG, Kobe & DJ tied with 84.6% FT.

Josh leads with 5.7 rebs, Kobe 5.0; Collier with 4.0 assists, Boogie 3.6. Kobe leads with 3.9 steals, Josh with 3.3 blocks.

Pregame

Coming out of the parking structure we spy Isaiah Collier in a yellow sweatsuit on his way into Galen for the pregame meeting with the team. We continue to the Founder’s Room, passing the new “improvements” Galen Center has undergone. I like the new video screens in the HOF area, but I don’t like that the “Trojans on the Covers of Sports Illustrated” wall has been taken down. That was one of my favorite things to look at in Galen. But it wasn’t kept current. I also don’t like that the USC Bookstore in Galen has been closed and replaced by a single booth of Trojan garb.

In the Founder’s Room I see former starting PG Jacque Hill from the Class of ’83, who ranks No. 6 for Career Assists with 363. I also see former walk-on G Chris Penrose from the Class of ’07. While Coach Eric Mobley waited for his cue to get to the mike, Trojan Candy caught up with him and got a picture for her website. Mobley spoke of the disappointment of losing that last game to Oklahoma in the Rady Classic. He said everyone was hurting, especially DJ Rodman who failed to block out to prevent the game-winning tip. He said everyone makes mistakes and that they will learn from this loss. The intensity in practice has really ramped up as the team is anxious to redeem itself and achieve the goals it has established. Asked what drills they did this week in practice, he replied “Rebound! Rebound!. They ran individual rebounding drills, 2 v 2 and 3 v 3 drills. Players were going at it so hard, they had to be separated a few times. He is hoping that fight shows up in the game.



He mentioned that the starters were the same: Boogie, Kobe, Isaiah, Josh and DJ and he had no timeline for Bronny’s return, saying that was up to the doctors. He did note that the team was excited to have him join them.

Coach said that all five EWU starters can shoot the 3 ball and that they would try to run the shooters off the line.

One audience member asked how his sons were doing in Cleveland. He bursts with pride talking about them. They love Cleveland. Isaiah is averaging 23 ppg with The Charge and is close to a promotion to the Cavs. Evan is still just a 22-year-old kid playing against grown men. He had a great game vs Big O’s Atlanta Hawks: 34 min, 8-11 FG, 1-1 3FG, 17 pts, 19 rebs, 7 blocks! One Founder says “we were sorry to lose the boys, but are glad we kept their Dad!” Applause in the room as Mobley smiles and exits.

The emcee notes that Soccer is meeting UMBC on Friday in 1st round NCAA action and men’s Water Polo is also playing in the 1st round of the NCAAs against San Jose State. He gets a large crowd reaction when he mentions 6-0 WBB and JuJu breaking Lisa Leslie’s freshman record with her fourth 30+ pt game. He notes that Aaliyah Gayles got her first points as a Trojan and said she was – the true definition of Fight on!

The Game

Awaiting tipoff, I spy Caleb Williams with JJ III (who spent his last season at Nevada and produced 35 receptions for 267 yds) and Minnesota Vikings receiver Jordan Addison who has 54 catches for 686 yds, 12.7 yds, 7 TDs so far this season. Super-agent Rich Paul, creator of Clutch Sports and agent of Lebron James and other stars was in the house.

From the tip, it would be raining threes and though they didn’t guard each other, there was a scoring duel between Boogie Ellis, who made a career high 8 threes (2 shy of the school record) and Jake Kyman, who made 7 threes in a career high 25 pt performance in front family and friends. For the game EWU sank 13 threes, SC had 12.

SC led 52-33 at the half on 58.1% FG, while holding EWU to 43.8%. The 52 points were SC’s high in the first half of a game this season. USC had 12 assists on its 18 first-half baskets. Boogie Ellis led all scorers at the break with 19 points. Jake Kyman had 13 points for the Eagles.

The team looked much better and more cohesive offensively. They were setting screens and cutting to the basket. Isaiah is making an effort to reduce his TOs, and success may result in him being the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft. Boogie had no TOs in the Rady tournament and only 1 this game! Isaiah was successful in bringing his TOs down to 2 this game, with 6 assists, the kind of ratio we need from him.

EWU only led once at 5-2 to start the game. SC was in control throughout. When it looked like the Eagles were draining threes and getting rim rattling dunks, I would glance at the scoreboard and see that SC was still leading by 20+ pts – phew.

The second half looked like the first and SC end over the century mark for the first time since 2018 with a 106 – 78 win.

Both benches were strong, SC with a season high 41 bench points to EWU’s 29. Post-game, Boogie said that “this was a coming out party for our bigs” and he was right, they looked strong, athletic and confident. Vince had his season high of 13 pts (4-7 FG and 5-5 FT), plus 6 rebs and 2 blks. Kijani had a career-high 12 pts (5-9 FG, 2-2 FT), with 5 rebs (4 offensive), 2 assists. Josh had 7 pts (3-5 FG, 1-2 FT), 5 rebs, 2 assists, but was not credited with a block.

Boogie matched his season high 28 pts (9-13 FG, 8-10 3FG, 2-2 FT). Collier had a quiet 15 pts (5-8 FG, 1-2 3FG, 4-4 FT), Kobe had 12 (4-8 FG, 1-4 3FG, 3-5 FT) and a career high 7 assists. You will win a lot of games when you have 5 players in double figures.

SC shot a season best 57.1%, had a season best 24 assists and season low 7 TOs!

SC improves to 5-2 and Eastern Washington falls to 1-6. Next up for SC is Gonzaga at the Legends of Basketball Las Vegas Invitational at the MGM Grand Garden Arena (ESPN 7pm PST).

Fight on! Beat the Zags!
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Donald Trump Jr. says he played minor role in company finances

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Donald Trump Jr. says he played minor role in company finances​

By Jack Queen
November 1, 202310:16 PM CDT

NEW YORK, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. testified on Wednesday that he had little to do with preparing financial documents at the family real-estate company that a judge has found fraudulent, in a trial that could hobble the former U.S. president's business empire.

Over the course of one and a half hours on the witness stand, Donald Jr. said he provided cash-flow figures to company accountants while he and his brother Eric oversaw the Trump Organization during their father's 2017-2021 presidency.

But he said he was not directly involved in preparing the so-called statements of financial condition of properties and other company assets, which New York state prosecutors say were fraudulently inflated to win favorable terms from lenders and insurers.

"They could have asked me on any given day what a deal was worth," he said, adding: "I may not have known that it was going to be used in aggregate for the statements of financial condition."

Donald Jr. is a co-defendant in the case, along with his father and his brother Eric.

His testimony is expected to continue into Thursday afternoon and could delve deeper into his role managing properties and licensing deals. Eric is scheduled to testify after he is finished, followed by his sister Ivanka Trump on Friday. Their father is set to testify on Monday.

The lawsuit by Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses Trump, his two adult sons and a handful of their family businesses of inflating their assets by billions of dollars to secure better loan terms.

The case is largely about damages, as Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled that Trump and his company fraudulently inflated those asset values.

James is seeking at least $250 million in fines, a permanent ban against Trump and his two adult sons from running businesses in New York and a five-year commercial real estate ban against Trump and the Trump Organization.

Engoron has ordered the dissolution of companies that control pillars of his real estate portfolio, including Trump Tower in Manhattan. That ruling is on hold while Trump appeals.


Donald Trump Jr. attends the Trump Organization civil fraud trial, in New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York City


The trial is one of many legal troubles Trump faces as he campaigns to retake the White House. He holds a commanding lead over his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination to face Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election, opinion polls show.

The elder Trump also faces four separate criminal prosecutions, including cases in Washington and Georgia related to his attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat.

'LEAVE MY CHILDREN ALONE'​

Trump has denied wrongdoing and has repeatedly accused James and Engoron of political bias.

"Leave my children alone, Engoron. You are a disgrace to the legal profession!" he wrote on social media on Wednesday morning.

Trump is under a limited gag order barring him from speaking publicly about court staff but has twice violated it and been fined $15,000 for attacking Engoron’s top clerk, whom he has accused of bias. He has not faced sanctions for his attacks on Engoron or James.

The Washington judge overseeing his federal election subversion trial has also imposed a limited gag order. Trump has alleged that both violate his right to free speech.

Trump himself is not required to attend trial and did not appear in court on Wednesday.

He appeared in court last week for a dramatic reunion with his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who testified against his former boss last week.

Cohen, appearing face-to-face with Trump for the first time since their acrimonious break five years ago, said Trump directed him to inflate asset values to arrive at the arbitrary net worth he desired.
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Opinion Wash. Post: A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending.

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Opinion

A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending.​


By Robert Kagan
Editor at large
November 30, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. EST

Robert Kagan, a Post Opinions contributing editor, is the author of “Rebellion: How Antiliberalism Is Tearing America Apart — Again,” which will be published by Knopf in May.

Let’s stop the wishful thinking and face the stark reality: There is a clear path to dictatorship in the United States, and it is getting shorter every day. In 13 weeks, Donald Trump will have locked up the Republican nomination. In the RealClearPolitics poll average (for the period from Nov. 9 to 20), Trump leads his nearest competitor by 47 points and leads the rest of the field combined by 27 points. The idea that he is unelectable in the general election is nonsense — he is tied or ahead of President Biden in all the latest polls — stripping other Republican challengers of their own stated reasons for existence. The fact that many Americans might prefer other candidates, much ballyhooed by such political sages as Karl Rove, will soon become irrelevant when millions of Republican voters turn out to choose the person whom no one allegedly wants.

For many months now, we have been living in a world of self-delusion, rich with imagined possibilities. Maybe it will be Ron DeSantis, or maybe Nikki Haley. Maybe the myriad indictments of Trumpwill doom him with Republican suburbanites. Such hopeful speculation has allowed us to drift along passively, conducting business as usual, taking no dramatic action to change course, in the hope and expectation that something will happen. Like people on a riverboat, we have long known there is a waterfall ahead but assume we will somehow find our way to shore before we go over the edge. But now the actions required to get us to shore are looking harder and harder, if not downright impossible.

The magical-thinking phase is ending. Barring some miracle, Trump will soon be the presumptive Republican nominee for president. When that happens, there will be a swift and dramatic shift in the political power dynamic, in his favor. Until now, Republicans and conservatives have enjoyed relative freedom to express anti-Trump sentiments, to speak openly and positively about alternative candidates, to vent criticisms of Trump’s behavior past and present. Donors who find Trump distasteful have been free to spread their money around to help his competitors. Establishment Republicans have made no secret of their hope that Trump will be convicted and thus removed from the equation without their having to take a stand against him.

All this will end once Trump wins Super Tuesday. Votes are the currency of power in our system, and money follows, and by those measures, Trump is about to become far more powerful than he already is. The hour of casting about for alternatives is closing. The next phase is about people falling into line.

In fact, it has already begun. As his nomination becomes inevitable, donors are starting to jump from other candidates to Trump. The recent decision by the Koch political network to endorse GOP hopeful Nikki Haley is scarcely sufficient to change this trajectory. And why not? If Trump is going to be the nominee, it makes sense to sign up early while he is still grateful for defectors. Even anti-Trump donors must ask whether their cause is best served by shunning the man who stands a reasonable chance of being the next president. Will corporate executives endanger the interests of their shareholders just because they or their spouses hate Trump? It’s not surprising that people with hard cash on the line are the first to flip.

The rest of the Republican Party will quickly follow. Rove’s recent exhortationthat primary voters choose anyone but Trump is the last such plea you are likely to hear from anyone with a future in the party. Even in a normal campaign, intraparty dissent begins to disappear once the primaries produce a clear winner. Most of the leading candidates have already pledged to support Trump if he is the nominee, even before he has won a single primary vote. Imagine their posture after he runs the table on Super Tuesday. Most of the candidates running against him will sprint toward him, competing for his favor. After Super Tuesday, there will be no surer and shorter path to the presidency for a Republican than to become the loyal running mate of a man who will be 82 in 2028.

Republicans who have tried to navigate the Trump era by mixing appeals to non-Trump voters with repeated professions of loyalty to Trump will end that show. As perilous as it is for Republicans to say a negative word about Trump today, it will be impossible once he has sewn up the nomination. The party will be in full general-election mode, subordinating all to the presidential campaign. What Republican or conservative will be standing up to Trump then? Will the Wall Street Journal editorial page, which has been rather boldly opposing Trump, continue to do so once he is the nominee and it is a binary choice between Trump and Biden? There will be no more infighting, only outfighting; in short, a tsunami of Trump support from all directions. A winner is a winner. And a winner who stands a reasonable chance of wielding all the power there is to wield in the world is going to attract support no matter who they are. That is the nature of power, at any time in any society.

But Trump will not only dominate his party. He will again become the central focus of everyone’s attention. Even today, the news media can scarcely resist following Trump’s every word and action. Once he secures the nomination, he will loom over the country like a colossus, his every word and gesture chronicled endlessly. Even today, the mainstream news media, including The Post and NBC News, is joining forces with Trump’s lawyers to seek televised coverage of his federal criminal trial in D.C. Trump intends to use the trial to boost his candidacy and discredit the American justice system as corrupt — and the media outlets, serving their own interests, will help him do it.

Trump will thus enter the general-election campaign early next year with momentum, backed by growing political and financial resources, and an increasingly unified party. Can the same be said of Biden? Is Biden’s power likely to grow over the coming months? Will his party unify around him? Or will alarm and doubt among Democrats, already high, continue to increase? Even at this point, the president is struggling with double-digit defections among Black Americans and younger voters. Jill Stein and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have already launched, respectively, third-party and independent campaigns, coming at Biden in the main from the populist left. The decision by Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) not to run for reelection in West Virginia but instead to contemplate a third-party run for the presidency is potentially devastating. The Democratic coalition is likely to remain fractious as the Republicans unify and Trump consolidates his hold.
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