Jeff is handling practice today. I've been coughing my head off for two days now and I also want to catch up on a lot of other stuff. The value of being at practice has also been significantly undercut now that we only see stretching and not even individual drills anymore. The main interview need today is Caleb Williams, which Jeff will get (assuming Caleb is made available). We also get Dennis Simmons, but I didn't have any personally pressing questions for him. I'll still write off whatever is notable, but Jeff will be our eyes at practice checking on MarShawn Lloyd.

If House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer's crusade against President Joe Biden had merit, shouldn't the Republican be able to tell the truth?


Nov. 1, 2023, 7:00 AM CDT
By Steve Benen

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has reason to feel discouraged. The Kentucky Republican has spent nearly the entire year trying to uncover evidence to support his investigation into President Joe Biden, and to date, the GOP congressman has come up empty. Many in his own party have made clear, publicly and privately, that they are “not happy“ with Comer’s failures.

Making matters worse, the Oversight Committee chairman has been caught trying to justify his flailing efforts with claims that are clearly false. Axios reported in September, for example, that Comer “has repeatedly exaggerated and distorted the findings of his investigation into the Biden family.” The report added that the Republican has “at times undermined his credibility” by “overstating his committee’s findings.”

The same week, a Washington Post analysis took a closer look at comments Comer made during a conservative media interview, concluding that he made “a number of claims that were unsupported by publicly available evidence, contradicted by other parties or obviously false.”

By any fair measure, findings like these are disastrous for the powerful committee chairman. Comer doesn’t just want to advance his partisan crusade, he also wants to be perceived as an honest broker so that he’ll be taken seriously in the event that he uncovers genuinely controversial details. Instead, the Kentuckian has spent months lighting his credibility on fire, pushing claims that crumble under scrutiny.

Common sense suggests Comer would start taking steps to get his act together. He’s instead making matters worse.

This week, the GOP lawmaker appeared on Newsmax and declared, “We’re finally now able to put all the pieces together for their money laundering scheme. And I can say, Joe Biden, not only was he front and center, not only did Joe Biden know what his family was doing, but he benefited financially as well.”

As Comer knows, he’s tried and failed to find evidence to support such assertions.

The on-air comments coincided with the congressman’s latest fundraising pitch, which the Washington Post examined in detail.

“For 15 years, Credible Informants have been providing criminal information against the Biden’s to FBI Field Offices across the country,” [the fundraising appeal] stated, typos included, “and for 15 years, everytime the information has been brought to FBI HQ, the leadership of the FBI shuts it down.” And so on — Comer presents himself as a warrior for the truth, standing up to the media and the left-wing hordes, etc. Then the money ask appears.

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In keeping with the larger trend, the pitch is built entirely on baseless claims.

Revisiting our earlier coverage, the broader pattern is brutal. Comer has been caught telling tall tales about everything from banking records to the National Archives, Burisma to imagined code words, Devon Archer’s testimony to the circumstances surrounding Comer’s participation in the Archer interview. The chairman’s detractors were recently able to discredit one of his claims by pointing to his own earlier rhetoric.

Comer started overhyping his findings a while ago, and his willingness to play fast and loose with the facts seems to be getting worse.

But nearly as important as the Republican’s dishonesty is his motivation. Comer still seems painfully aware of the fact that he hasn’t been able to deliver a coherent case against the president, not because of a lack of effort, but because the evidence simply doesn’t support his partisan crusade.

And so, it appears the Oversight Committee chairman has embraced easily discredited claims — in part to justify his work, in part to smear a Democrat who doesn’t appear to have done anything wrong, and in part to satisfy his party’s unrealistic demands.

Washington, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, Arizona....

USC remains the frontrunner after Clemson visit that went well:

I called an audible and decided it was more pressing to write the Tackett Curtis feature for today over the Grinch feature, which will come in the middle of next week (and is going to be so long it's probably not an ideal read on a Saturday game day with so much going on).

Here is the Curtis feature, with perspective from coaches, teammates and his uncle/HS coach.

David Weiss departs for a break during a transcribed interview before members of the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.Alex Brandon / AP

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For the first time, a special counsel talked to Congress during an open investigation. David Weiss did not, however, tell the GOP what it wanted to hear.


Nov. 8, 2023, 10:26 AM CST
By Steve Benen

When previous special counsels have answered congressional questions, they’ve done so after the completion of their investigations. This has always made sense: Federal investigators, working independently, can’t comment on ongoing probes, so it stands to reason that they’d remain silent until their examinations are complete.

This week, however, offered an unprecedented exception. NBC News reported:

Special counsel David Weiss, who is overseeing the investigation into Hunter Biden, told the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that he was not thwarted from advancing charges against the president’s son.

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To briefly recap for those who might benefit from a refresher, Weiss has been investigating Hunter Biden for several years, and after Joe Biden began his presidency, the Democratic administration made a point to leave Weiss in place.

The Trump-appointed prosecutor was pursuing a case against the president’s son, but Joe Biden and Justice Department officials agreed that the right thing to do was to allow Weiss to continue his work.

Over the summer, Attorney General Merrick Garland elevated Weiss from the role of a U.S. attorney investigating the president’s son to a special counsel investigating the president’s son. Congressional Republicans requested that this happen. They then complained bitterly when it did happen.

But that’s not all GOP members said. Weiss has also been at the heart of a variety of partisan conspiracy theories, which led to his closed-door testimony before Chairman Jim Jordan’s House Judiciary Committee.

“At no time was I blocked, or otherwise prevented from pursuing charges or taking the steps necessary in the investigation by other United States Attorneys, the Tax Division or anyone else at the Department of Justice,” Weiss told lawmakers, according to prepared remarks obtained by NBC News.

He went on to say that he’s bound by federal laws, the principles of federal prosecution, and Justice Department guidelines, but “these processes did not interfere with my decision-making authority.”

Weiss further confirmed that he’s had no direct communications with the attorney general, except for his written request in August that he receive special counsel status.

Or put another way, the assorted ideas GOP members have clung to for months were thoroughly rejected by the Trump-appointed prosecutor.

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California described the Q&A with Weiss as “stupid“ and unnecessary. Democratic Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania added that the hearing was “a farce” and “an absolute waste of time.”

Tonight was with Lincoln Riley and Justin Dedich. I will have the transcript up soon.

Here is the video:

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Some really great shots in here, as always!

Rivals recruiting director Adam Gorney is going to check in on this thread all week and answer any questions you have about USC recruiting, national recruiting, perhaps thoughts on Lincoln Riley, Alex Grinch, USC-UW, etc.

Let’s have fun with it! Ask whatever you want, but let’s do it respectfully, even if it’s about disagreements with rankings or whatever.

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We've reached out to him ...

My buddy Corey Edwards has availability on a full-size bus with restroom from downtown Portland (11:30) to the game this Saturday. Return approximately 45 minutes after game is over.

Please call him directly at (661) 487-6445 if interested.

I dont. We are going to get ****** up in Eugene next week. My guess is team morale will be at an all-time low after that game plus there will be nothing to really play for after our 4th loss.

The fact that our Jimbo FINALLY fired The Grinch (at least a year too late)…..
under OBVIOUS pressure from above…..
DOES NOT change the fact that we have just wasted the last 2 years NOT preparing for the Big Ten.

unfortunately, it REALLY looks like we hired the wrong guy (again).

a guy who doesn’t care about the RUNNING GAME
doesnt care about DEFENSE
doesnt care about SPECIAL TEAMS
and who doesn’t seem to know/care that Winning Football is, first & foremost, a game of Physicality….

And, trust me, I WOULD LOVE TO BE PROVEN WRONG………

1. Put size on the d line.

2. Simplify the base defense.

On the witness stand, Trump couldn’t help himself (again)​

Every time Donald Trump answers questions under oath, he makes matters worse for himself. His time on the witness stand in New York added to the pattern.


Nov. 7, 2023, 7:40 AM CST
By Steve Benen

Donald Trump is no stranger to answering questions under oath. But as regular readers know, these Q&As never seem to go well for him.

In 2021, for example, a court ordered the Republican to testify under oath in a lawsuit brought by protestors who were allegedly roughed up by his security guards outside Trump Tower in New York. During his deposition, the former president said he feared protesters would hit him with “very dangerous” fruit, declaring — in apparent seriousness —that “you can be killed if that happens.”

Trump also gave a deposition in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case, which went even worse for him. According to his testimony, which was featured during the trial, Trump considered himself a star, and he believed it’s “largely true” that stars have been able to get away with assaulting women “over the last million years ... unfortunately or fortunately.”

In the same deposition, Trump confused Carroll with his second wife — undermining his indefensible rhetoric about his “type” — and struggled to remember the details of his adulterous past.

A month earlier, the Republican falsely claimed during a deposition that, during his White House tenure, he successful averted a “nuclear holocaust” with North Korea.

Taken together, a picture emerges of a defendant who, in a rather literal sense, can’t seem to help himself under questioning. His latest appearance offered fresh evidence of the larger pattern. NBC News reported:

An often-irate former President Donald Trump testified Monday in the high-stakes $250 million civil fraud trial in New York that could lead to the dismantling of his sprawling business empire, and used his time on the stand to engage in several blistering attacks against the judge and lawyers in the case whom he maintained were “unfair.”

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After his time on the witness stand, Trump told reporters, “I think it went very well.” It really didn’t.

The former president performed for the media. He lashed out at the judge, the state attorney general, and the process. He made highly dubious claims despite being under oath.

He also, at one point, was asked if he’d received copies of the Trump Organization’s financial statements in 2021. “I was so busy in the White House with China, Russia, and keeping the country safe,” Trump replied.

It fell to Kevin Wallace, a lawyer in the New York attorney general’s office, to remind the former president that he wasn’t in office in 2021.

But most importantly, Trump’s testimony plainly didn’t help his defense in this highly important civil case. On the contrary, as my MSNBC colleague Lisa Rubin explained, it was the state attorney general’s office that benefited most from the Republican’s time on the stand.

Trump’s elder daughter, Ivanka Trump, is scheduled to testify Wednesday (tomorrow). The defense will begin laying out its case soon after. Watch this space.

Oil Industry Netted Billions in Profits, Despite Global Price Dip. That's net profit for the first two 3 month quarters
12 more rows
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Aug 10, 2023

And, you wonder why gas prices are so high.

Video uploading. Riley talked for 12 minutes. He didn't want to say what he's looking for in a new coordinator yet, he said he'll spend 99 percent of the next two weeks focused on the team and some minimal time on preliminaries thoughts and he doesn't feel rushed by any recruiting factors. He said he had some thoughts on why the defense didn't play up to his expectations under Grinch, but he didn't want to get into that with the season still going. He wouldn't specify who will call the defensive plays between Nua and Odom.

CLR won’t have a Heisman trophy winner or runner up to bail him out. This team will get mauled next year in the B1G. Huge changes are needed ASAP. Have to get a top flight D coordinator and make the shift to running the football more.