The latest in today's Recruiting Rumor Mill:

It’s been reality-TV central lately in the halls of Congress—wacky stunts, wild rants, and a mystery baby. But like the prospect of Speaker Jim Jordan, the party’s antics are hardly entertaining.

BY MOLLY JONG-FAST
OCTOBER 16, 2023

he “burn it all down” caucus has set itself on fire, a hazard of playing with matches. Even for today’s Republican Party, there were some especially low moments lately, like Sean Spicer, of Trump White House and Dancing With the Stars fame, telling a group in New Hampshire that “If we don’t get our act together, George Santos will be the nominee [for Speaker].” Which I guess was meant to be a warning, but if we’re being honest, the differences between George Santos and Jim Jordan are not so huge. Speaking of Santos, he was walking around with a baby in the hallway of the Longworth building, and at one point, screaming at a protester he claimed was anti-Israel. Santos must be particularly offended by antisemitism because he has a long history of pretending to be Jewish and related to Holocaust survivors.

Santos wasn’t the only Republican congressperson who went Real Congresspeople of the Longworth Building. This past week featured other reality-television-style antics, demonstrating the perverse incentive of today’s Republican Party. Wacky stunts, costumes, and just saying outrageous things on television—things that might’ve ended a political career 20 years ago—are what keep politicians in the headlines and raking in donations.

Congresswoman Nancy Mace, fresh off shivving Kevin McCarthy, did her best Hester Prynne impression by wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a scarlet A. This got her a swarm of reporters, and the attention she seems to crave. We also saw a giddy Harriet Hageman—the one who knocked out the very serious Liz Cheney—carrying a lasso rope to a GOP candidate forum. But none of these Republican congresspeople had been able to work the Israel conflict into their costume wearing, until Florida congressman Brian Mast attempted the most ambitious crossover ever, donning his Israel Defence Forces uniform to Congress and somehow blaming a Democrat for it. “Tlaib’s got her flag. I got my uniform,” he wrote on X, referring to Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American member of Congress.


Maybe this behavior is inevitable when a political party spends eight years beholden to former reality-TV game show host Donald Trump. Whatever the case, it’s silly season for the House Republicans, and this silliness is no longer confined to just holding hearings about gas stoves and trying to impeach Joe Biden for no good reason. It’s devolved into an actual clown show, which might be entertaining if the American people weren’t reliant on these people to fund the federal government in a little more than a month.

Now, area arsonist Jim Jordan is revving up the GOP-media outrage machine to try and bully his fellow House Republicans to vote for him. But the problem with being a pyromaniac is that fire is exceedingly hard to control. Axios’s Juliegrace Brufke posted a note from an apparent producer on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show that asked an unnamed congressperson if they supported Speaker Jordan, and if not, why? “Moderates are growing increasingly irritated with the tactics Jordan allies are using to pressure them into voting for him, with one member noting the Hannity show has gotten involved in the efforts sending potential defectors the email below,” Brufke wrote. “One lawmaker said the push is counterproductive to swaying Jordan skeptics.”

There has been plenty of skepticism in recent days, as 55 Republicans last week wouldn’t commit to Jordan. As veteran congressional reporter Jamie Dupree posted Friday: “One Republican told me Jordan can use the weekend to win over votes. Then I turned off my recorder, and asked again about Jordan's chances. No, he can’t win - was the quick answer.”

But “Jordan’s team has the knives out,” as one House Republican who represents a swing district put it to The Washington Post. “I’ll vote my conscience, which is a ‘no,’ but I don’t want to be a punching bag for the next three days,” the member added. “Right now, Jordan is woefully short on votes, and his team wants to beat folks into submission.”

Jordan, like Trump, appears more interested in his own personal success than that of his party, which makes sense because the ethos of Trumpism is self-promotion. Jordan is not only a frequent guest on Fox News, but as Media Matters’ Matt Gertz writes, “operationalizes its content,” turning “Fox talking points into letters to government agencies, bring[ing] its smears into committee rooms, and fold[ing] its conspiracy theories into impeachment efforts.” The election-denying Jordan unsurprisingly got the endorsement of Trump, who questioned the health of Steve Scalise the same day he beat Jordan for the GOP Speaker nomination—and shortly before he withdrew from the race.

Republicans who are put up as potential challengers are immediately attacked by pro-Trump accounts like Elon Musk’s favorite @EndWokeness, who posted a photo of Representative Mike Rogers and his apparent phone number. The thinking here is that Jordan, his allies, and supporters, can do a kind of French Revolution–style schtick to get him the gavel. By Monday morning, it appeared to work on Rogers who X-ed his support for Jordan, perhaps in the hopes that the online bullying would stop. Jordan appears to be making serious inroads to getting the 217 votes to become speaker, with presumed Republican opponents falling like dominoes on Monday.

Can Jordan steamroll reluctant Republicans into becoming Speaker? Maybe? Jordan can still only afford to lose five votes in order to get to the magic number of 217. But remember that means that at least 13 of the 18 vulnerable House republicans will have to vote for his Speakership.

Could voting for right-wing bomb-thrower like Jordan scare off potential GOP voters in swing districts and risk the House in 2024? It’s hard to see a Jordan Speakership not leading to more Fox-friendly stunts and impeachment hearings. And my guess is Republicans would be better off politically in 2024 by not getting what they want here. But then again, pyromaniacs like to watch the world burn.

Interviews today are Lincoln Riley, Alex Grinch, Mason Cobb, Zion Branch, Tackett Curtis, Jaylin Smith, Bear Alexander, Calen Bullock, and Zachariah Branch.

In a joint statement on Wednesday afternoon, Mark Warner, the Democratic chair of the committee, and Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the panel, said the committee had “received and reviewed intelligence” before drawing the conclusion.

Lauren Fedor in Washington

© Getty Images

The top Democratic and Republican lawmakers on the powerful US Senate intelligence committee have said they are “confident” the deadly attack on a hospital in Gaza on Tuesday was “the result of a failed rocket launch by militant terrorists and not the result of an Israeli air strike”.

In a joint statement on Wednesday afternoon, Mark Warner, the Democratic chair of the committee, and Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the panel, said the committee had “received and reviewed intelligence” before drawing the conclusion.

Warner and Rubio issued their statement as all 100 US senators attended a classified briefing on the situation in Israel and Gaza with Avril Haines, director of national intelligence, Victoria Nuland, acting deputy secretary of state, Lloyd Austin, secretary of defence, and CQ Brown, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

BY NAJIB JOBAIN, ISABEL DEBRE AND RAVI NESSMAN
Updated 5:00 PM CDT, October 18, 2023

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel said Wednesday that it will allow Egypt to deliver limited quantities of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The first crack in a punishing 10-day siege on the territory came one day after a deadly blast at a Gaza City hospital killed hundreds and put immense strain on Gaza doctors treating the many wounded as medical supplies ran out.

The announcement to allow water, food and other supplies happened as rage over Tuesday night’s blast at al-Ahli Hospital spread across the Middle East, and as U.S. President Joe Biden visited Israel in hopes of preventing a wider conflict in the region.

There were conflicting claims of who was responsible for the explosion. Hamas officials in Gaza quickly blamed an Israeli airstrike, saying hundreds were killed. Israel denied it was involved and released a flurry of video, audio and other information that it said showed the blast was instead due to a rocket misfire by Islamic Jihad, another militant group operating in Gaza. Islamic Jihad dismissed that claim.

The Associated Press has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence released by the parties.

Israel shut off all supplies to Gaza soon after Hamas militants rampaged across communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7. As supplies run out, many families in Gaza have cut down to one meal a day and have been left to drink contaminated water, raising U.N. warnings of the risk of starvation.

The al-Ahli carnage threw the siege’s impact into sharp relief. Hundreds of wounded were rushed to another hospital that was nearly out of supplies and fuel for its generators, and doctors performed surgery on the floors, often without anesthesia.

Biden said Egypt’s president agreed to open the crossing and to let in an initial group of 20 trucks with humanitarian aid. If Hamas confiscates aid, “it will end,” he said. The aid will start moving Friday at the earliest, White House officials said.

Egypt must still repair the road across the border that was cratered by Israeli airstrikes. More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tons of aid are positioned at or near Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only connection to Egypt, ready to go through, said the head of the Red Crescent for North Sinai, Khalid Zayed.

Supplies will go in under supervision of the U.N., Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Al-Arabiya TV. Asked if foreigners and dual nationals seeking to leave would be let through, he said: “As long as the crossing is operating normally and the (crossing) facility has been repaired.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the decision was approved after a request from Biden. It said Israel “will not thwart” deliveries of food, water or medicine from Egypt, as long as they are limited to civilians in the south of the Gaza Strip and don’t go to Hamas militants. The statement made no mention of badly needed fuel.

Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel resumed Wednesday after a 12-hour lull. Israeli strikes on Gaza continued, including on cities in the south that Israel had described as “safe zones” for civilians.

In his brief visit, Biden tried to strike a balance between showing U.S. support for Israel, while containing growing alarm among Arab allies. Upon his arrival, Biden embraced Netanyahu — and expressed concern for the suffering of Gaza’s civilians.

Biden said the hospital blast appeared not to be Israel’s fault, and he cautioned Israelis not to allow outrage over the deadly Hamas attack to consume them.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned that the war was “pushing the region to the brink.” After the hospital blast, Jordan canceled a meeting between Biden, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and the Palestinian and Egyptian presidents.

The Israeli military held a briefing Wednesday morning laying out its case for why it was not responsible for the explosion at the al-Ahli Hospital.

Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the military was not firing in the area when the blast occurred. He said Israeli radar confirmed a rocket barrage was fired by the Palestinian militant Islamic Jihad from a nearby cemetery at the time of the blast, around 6:59 p.m. Independent video showed one rocket in the barrage falling out of the sky, he said.

The misfired rocket hit the parking lot outside the hospital, he said. Were it an airstrike, there would have been a large crater there; instead, the fiery blast came from the misfired rocket’s warhead and its unspent propellant, he said.

Hamas called Tuesday’s hospital blast “a horrific massacre,” saying it was caused by an Israeli strike. Islamic Jihad accused Israel of trying “to evade responsibility for the brutal massacre it committed.”

The group pointed to Israel’s order days before that al-Ahli be evacuated and a previous strike at the hospital as proof that the hospital was an Israeli target. It also said the scale of the explosion, the angle of the bomb’s fall and the extent of the destruction all pointed to Israel.

The Anglican bishop of Jerusalem, Hosam Naoum, said the hospital, run by the Episcopal Church, received at least three Israeli military orders to evacuate in the days before the blast. Israeli shelling hit it Sunday, wounding four staffers, he said. Israel ordered all 22 hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate last week.

Naoum declined to cast blame on either party for the blast. “We just want to let people see what is happening on the ground and hope that people will come to the conclusion that we’ve had enough of this war,” he said.

Hundreds of Palestinians had taken refuge in al-Ahli and other hospitals in Gaza City, hoping they would be spared bombardment after Israel ordered all residents of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate to the south. Video after the blast showed the hospital grounds strewn with torn bodies, many of them young children.

On Wednesday morning, the blast scene was littered with charred cars and the ground was blackened. One man who had been sheltering there with his family, Mohammed al-Hayek, said he was sitting with other men in a hospital stairwell Tuesday night, wary of sitting in the yard.

He stepped away to get them coffee when the blast hit.

“When I returned, they were torn to pieces,” he said.

The death toll was in dispute. The Health Ministry initially said at least 500 had died, but revised that number to 471 on Wednesday. Al-Ahli officials said the toll was in the hundreds.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,478 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, and more than 12,000 wounded, mostly women, children and the elderly. Another 1,300 people across Gaza are believed to be buried under the rubble, alive or dead, health authorities said.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas’ deadly incursion, in which the fighters took some 200 hostages into Gaza. Militants in Gaza have launched rockets every day since toward cities across Israel.

Israel has been expected to launch a ground invasion into Gaza, though military officials say no decision has been made.

More than 1 million Palestinians have fled their homes — roughly half of Gaza’s population. Those fleeing the north and Gaza City to move south have crowded into U.N. schools or the homes of relatives.

With Israeli airstrikes relentlessly pounding the Gaza Strip, displaced Palestinians increasingly feel that no place is safe.

The Musa family fled to the typically sleepy central town of Deir al-Balah and sheltered in a cousin’s three-story home near the local hospital. But at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, a series of explosions, believed to be airstrikes, rocked the building, turning the family home into a mountain of rubble that they said buried some 20 women and children.

The dead body of Hiam Musa, the sister-in-law of Associated Press photojournalist Adel Hana, was recovered from under the building Wednesday evening, the family said. The family doesn’t know who else is under the rubble, alive or dead.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Hana said. “We went to Deir al-Balah because it’s quiet, we thought we would be safe.”

The Israeli military said it was investigating. The Israeli military says it is targeting Hamas hideouts, infrastructure and command centers and accuses the militants of hiding among civilians.

Excerpt from this article from the Daily Beast:

Biden’s Israel Trip Was a Gamble That’s Already Paying Off

Humanitarian aid is finally entering Gaza, Israelis felt supported, and Netanyahu is unlikely to disrespect the U.S. president again any time soon.

www.thedailybeast.com

He met with the Israeli prime minister and his war cabinet and he was direct. He would offer support and he expected Israel to prioritize protection of civilians and humanitarian concerns. In both cases, the meeting was apparently successful—with Biden formally announcing the deal to allow humanitarian assistance to move into Gaza from Egypt, and $100 million in new aid for those in need among Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. He also announced that later this week he would go to the Congress with a military support package for Israel of unprecedented size. He even became the most important voice in efforts to resolve the question regarding the origins of the hospital explosion. He said U.S. Defense Department analysis determined the explosion was caused by a Palestinian missile gone awry.

Biden also met directly with survivors of the terror attack and his authentic compassion made a deep impression on those in attendance and watching on television. Further, he delivered another set of remarks, underscoring America’s commitment to stand by Israel.

He said, “As long as the United States stands—and we will stand forever—you will not be alone.” The president then went further, however, and made the case for the values-based approach to managing this conflict for which he and his administration have been advocating all along. Biden said, “What sets us apart from the terrorists is we believe in the fundamental dignity of every life—Israeli, Palestinian, Arab, Jew, Muslim, Christian, everyone.”

Perhaps most striking was he did something that not only conveyed his message brilliantly, but that also showed a degree of self-awareness and even humility in U.S. leaders that has seldom been displayed. He said, “But I caution you, while you feel that rage, don’t be consumed by it. After 9/11 we were enraged in the United States. While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.”

It took a special kind of courage and was profoundly effective. Indeed, the entire speech was extraordinarily well-received. The Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin wrote, “A simply magnificent, gut-wrenching and inspiring Biden speech in Israel. As an American, a Jew, a human being, I could not be more touched.”

In the wake of the trip, the response from observers in the U.S. and Israel was equally enthusiastic. The gamble had paid off—in large part for all the reasons that successful gambles often do: preparation, experience, and being on the right side of the issues.

We are in the early phases of the Israel-Hamas war. It is always possible that Biden’s bet on supporting Israel and counting on our strong ties to help influence its behavior may be undone by Netanyahu or those around him.

But at one of those critical moments that test and reveal the true character of a president, Biden has again shown that he is not only experienced, empathetic, principled, and effective—but that he has one of the rarest qualities we find in our leaders. He has guts. He has the courage of his convictions. He is willing to undertake risk to get the return he believes is essential to the interests of the U.S. And once again, with this trip, he has delivered.

As you might recall, it was between the Aggies and USC in June when he decided.

No, he can’t play offensive or defensive line.

Netanyahu, Biden outline conditions on humanitarian aid to Gaza​

By Noga Tarnopolsky
and
Tyler Pager

In a statement released during President Biden’s speech in Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that despite American requests, Israel would not permit the transfer of any humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip from its own territory. He added, however, that Israel “will not thwart humanitarian supplies arriving from Egypt as long as it is only food, water and medicine for the civilian population located in the southern Gaza Strip or those moving there, and as long as these supplies do not reach Hamas.”

Here ya go ...

OFFENSE

Snap counts ...

LG Emmanuel Pregnon 80
LT Jonah Monheim 80
QB Caleb Williams 78
C Justin Dedich 78
RG Jarrett Kingston 76
RT Mason Murphy 67
WR Tahj Washington 63
WR Brenden Rice 50
WR Michael Jackson III 41
TE Lake McRee 40
WR Kyron Hudson 38
WR Dorian Singer 38
RB MarShawn Lloyd 36
RB Austin Jones 35
WR Zachariah Branch 29
WR Mario Williams 21
RT Michael Tarquin 17
TE Jude Wolfe 5
RB Quinten Joyner 2
WR Makai Lemon 2
C Kilian O'Connor 2
QB Miller Moss 2
WR Duce Robinson 1

Offensive PFF grades (min. 20 snaps)
LT Jonah Monheim 74.0
WR Mario Williams 71.4
RT Mason Murphy 68.9
WR Zachariah Branch 67.5
RG Jarrett Kingston 66.2
WR Michael Jackson III 65.8
WR Tahj Washington 62.2
QB Caleb Williams 62.0
TE Lake McRee 59.7
RB MarShawn Lloyd 58.6
C Justin Dedich 58.1
RB Austin Jones 57.8
LG Emmanuel Pregnon 56.5
WR Dorian Singer 53.4
WR Kyron Hudson 52.4
WR Brenden Rice 51.2

DEFENSE

Snap counts ...

S Calen Bullock 49
CB Christian Roland-Wallace 49
CB Domani Jackson 49
LB Tackett Curtis 47
LB Mason Cobb 40
NK Jaylin Smith 39
DE Solomon Byrd 37
S Bryson Shaw 31
DT Bear Alexander 30
DE Jamil Muhammad 25
DT Tyrone Taleni 21
DT Stanley Ta'ufo'ou 18
NT Kyon Barrs 16
NK Zion Branch 16
DE Anthony Lucas 15
RUSH Romello Height 13
RUSH Braylan Shelby 11
DT De'jon Benton 10
LB Raesjon Davis 7
DT Jack Sullivan 7
S Max Williams 4
DT Elijah Hughes 3
LB Eric Gentry 2

Defensive PFF grades (min. 15 snaps)

CB Christian Roland-Wallace 87.5
DT Bear Alexander 71.3
LB Tackett Curtis 70.5
LB Mason Cobb 69.3
CB Domani Jackson 68.2
S Caleb Bullock 67.8
NK Zion Branch 67.6
DT Tyrone Taleni 67.3
S Bryson Shaw 67.2
DE Anthony Lucas 66.7
DE Solomon Byrd 66.6
NK Jaylin Smith 63.2
NT Kyon Barrs 62.7
DT Stanley Ta'ufo'ou 62.0
RUSH Jamil Muhammad 59.0

Still undefeated in the PAC. This looks like easy money....

Rivals100 WR Dre’lon Miller announces his decision at 7 pm PT tonight.

Our Texas A&M reporters have told me for a week that it was a done deal to the Aggies and that Jimbo Fisher had told other recruits that Miller was in. Well, this morning those TAMU reporters say they’re hearing a lot of USC buzz suddenly.

So maybe some drama ahead tonight …

Unfortunately, I have to fly out for one of my best friend’s weddings, which is tomorrow. I tried changing my flight but there are no options that will get me there in time. So I’ll be covering this one remotely once I land in Orlando.

Colorado Rep. Ken Buck joins opposition as Jim Jordan says Jordan needs to admit Trump lost in 2020.​

By Caitlyn Kim
· Today, 12:33 pm
APRep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus.

Updated 2:00p.m., Oct. 17, 2023

The disunity among House Republicans continued as Rep. Jim Jordan failed to get the Speaker’s gavel during the first roll call vote Tuesday. Twenty Republicans withheld their support, including Colorado Rep. Ken Buck.

Buck cast his vote for GOP Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota.

Colorado’s other two Republicans, Reps. Lauren Boebert and Doug Lamborn both voted for Jordan, while all of Colorado’s Democratic House members voted for their leader, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, for the top job.

After the vote, Buck said there were a few reasons he did not back Jordan, including the future of military funding for Ukraine. Jordan was one of 117 Republicans who didn’t vote for additional Ukraine funding at the end of September. And Buck said “I haven’t gotten a commitment that it will come to the floor” if Jordan becomes Speaker.

Buck also reiterated his concern about Jordan’s views on the 2020 election and his involvement in the Trump campaign’s effort to hold onto the presidency.

"I’m concerned about the inability to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the election and the activities surrounding January 6th," Buck continued.

Buck believes there are a lot of people, including Emmer, who would be good speakers. “We’ll just have to see if we can develop a consensus in conference.”

But hoding additional rounds of voting at this point, which Jordan is expected to do, is not the way.

“Having another vote when you lose by 20 and you’ve got people who said they’re only going to vote for you on the first ballot and not vote for you on the second ballot is just not a way to bring the conference together,” he said. Buck does not plan on voting for Jordan at the next vote either.

The failed vote suggests the House could be headed toward the same kind of impasse it experienced in January, when it took 15 rounds of voting for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy to lock down the top job. It also highlights the disunity of the House GOP conference, which has been on stark display over the last two weeks.

In sports like life , you have to fail to get better. After the previous games, I would agree with the Debbie Downers the defense sucked , Grinch sucked. But after today this team sucked as a whole. I know it takes years to build a program but making the same mistakes year in and year out is not progress. Missed tackles, false starts high snaps are not a makeup of great teams not even good ones.
I don’t know if Riley is putting all is eggs on CW to win every game and not playing a team game which showed tonight. Not sure if Caleb is trying to do it all by his self but he has to learn that he cannot improvise every play and make bad play into a great one. He is got to learn to take a loss. That first pass he threw for an INT is not thrown by a Heisman winner and someone who will be starting on Sundays.
But can we bounce back to be in the top 12, we are not out of it yet. Is it all coaching or poor recruiting?
I am soccer player but watching this other game called football, this game is not finesse like soccer. It is tough physical game on both sides. Tough running on offense and attacking on Defense. Both which this team lacks. Nice to have a explosive offense until you face defense who plays physical and takes you out of the game.
I am still hoping for the best but this team has a lot soul searching to do and it starts with Riley Grinch and Williams.

BY MICHAEL R. SISAK AND JENNIFER PELTZ
Updated 4:32 PM CDT, October 17, 2023

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump returned Tuesday to the civil fraud trial that imperils his real estate empire, watching and deploring the case as an employee and an outside appraiser testified that his company essentially put a thumb on the scale when sizing up his properties’ value.

Incensed by a case that disputes his net worth and could strip him of such signature holdings as Trump Tower, the former president is due to testify later in the trial. But he chose to attend the first three days and came back Tuesday to observe — and to protest his treatment to the news cameras waiting outside the Manhattan courtroom.

Star witness Michael Cohen, a onetime Trump fixer now turned foe, postponed his scheduled testimony because of a health problem.

Instead, Trump company accountant Donna Kidder testified that she was told to make some assumptions favorable to the firm on internal financial spreadsheets. Outside appraiser Doug Larson said he didn’t suggest or condone a former Trump Organization comptroller’s methods of valuing properties.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Larson said of the way the ex-controller reached a $287.6 million value for a prominent Trump-owned retail space in 2013.

Trump, outside court, reiterated his insistence that he’s done nothing wrong and that New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit is a political vendetta designed to drag down his 2024 presidential campaign as he leads the Republican field.

“We built a great company — a lot of cash, it’s got a lot of great assets, some of the greatest real estate assets anywhere in the world,” Trump said outside the courtroom. He dismissed the case as “a disgrace,” the legal system as “corrupt” and the Democratic attorney general as a “radical lunatic.”

James’ lawsuit alleges that Trump and his company deceived banks, insurers and others by massively overvaluing his assets and inflating his net worth on his financial statements.

“Mr. Trump may lie, but numbers don’t lie,” she said after court.

“He can call me names, he can engage in distractions,” she said, but “his entire empire was built on nothing but lies and on sinking sand.”

Trump says his assets were actually undervalued and maintains that disclaimers on his financial statements amounted to telling banks and other recipients to check out his numbers themselves.

Larson, a real estate brokerage executive and certified appraiser, assessed Trump properties for lenders. He was taken aback when told on the stand that he was repeatedly cited as an outside expert in former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney ’s valuation spreadsheets.

“It’s inappropriate and inaccurate,” Larson testified. “I should have been told, and an appraisal should have been ordered.”

When it came to valuing a storefront formerly known as Niketown, McConney relied on rates of return for a different type of property, rather than for comparable retail space, Larson testified. He also said he appraised a Trump-owned Wall Street building at $540 million in 2015, while McConney valued it at $735.4 million on Trump’s financial statement.

n cross-examining Larson, Trump lawyer Lazaro Fields asked whether anything “prevents President Trump, as a real estate developer, from valuing his own properties.”

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t know,” Larson responded. Asked again, Larson said: “Not that I know of.”

Kidder, the Trump company accountant, testified that as she filled out spreadsheets documenting the value of a Trump-owned Wall Street office building, then-finance chief Allen Weisselberg told her to act as if the skyscraper would be fully leased by a certain date, even if some space was currently vacant. For a Park Avenue residential tower, she was told to project that unsold units “would all sell out” in a certain timeframe.

Kidder said she wasn’t aware that those assumptions would be used to improve Trump’s bottom line on financial statements that helped his company make deals and get financing and insurance.

Trump lawyer Christopher Kise objected to what he deemed “very granular” testimony from Kidder, who also alluded to a prior Trump tangle with New York state’s lawyers.

In explaining a spreadsheet, she noted an entry about a $12 million loan to pay a $25 million settlement of lawsuits from former state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and others over the now-defunct Trump University real estate seminar program.

Judge Arthur Engoron is hearing the current case without a jury. The suit was brought under a state law that doesn’t allow for one.

Trump has repeatedly criticized both the statute and the judge, a Democrat. The ex-president said Tuesday that he had come to like and respect Engoron but believed that Democrats were “pushing him around like a pinball.”

After Trump maligned a key court staffer on social media during the trial’s first days, the judge ordered him to delete the post and issued a limited gag order, warning participants in the case not to smear members of his staff.

In a pretrial decision last month, Engoron resolved the case’s top claim, ruling that Trump and his company committed years of fraud by exaggerating his asset values and net worth on his financial statements.

As punishment, Engoron ordered that a court-appointed receiver take control of some Trump companies, putting the future oversight of Trump Tower and other marquee properties in question. An appeals court has since blocked enforcement of that aspect of the ruling for now.

The trial concerns the suit’s remaining claims of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records.

Tomorrow, President Biden is traveling to Israel to send a clear message of solidarity and America’s unequivocal support. That’s what strong presidents do. Stand up for our closest allies. And show American leadership to save lives and stop terrorists.

In short, President Biden is doing the hard work. And just like his leadership with Ukraine, the American people should be confident that our President will rise to the challenge once again.

It’s also worth remembering how Trump handled relations with these two key allies. At the beginning of his presidency, he casually disclosed critical Israeli national security secrets to high-ranking Russian officials.

He also withheld crucial military aid in an attempt to coerce Ukraine into supporting outrageous conspiracy theories against the Biden family. The list of these betrayals could go on and on. And of course, after the Hamas attack, he called another terrorist group “smart” and Israel weak.

Look at the contrast. President Biden is working right now to make the United States stronger and the world safer. Trump does the exact opposite. It’s a message that will have real resonance with voters in 2024. We just need to deliver it.

A memo first shared with NBC News advises Democrats about how to cast Republicans as beholden to Donald Trump and "extremism" should Jordan become speaker.

Oct. 17, 2023, 6:30 AM CDT
By Sahil Kapur

WASHINGTON — Democrats are already crafting a strategy to use Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, as a political weapon against Republicans in the next election if he becomes the next House speaker.

In a memo to House Democrats, first shared with NBC News, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee urged party members and candidates to portray the entire GOP as beholden to radicals should Republicans hand him the speaker's gavel.

There are “no more moderates left in the Republican conference,” the DCCC said in the memo, adding that Jordan will win only if “so-called ‘moderates’” opt to “cave” and elect him.

“Every Republican who votes for Jordan for Speaker is simply following Trump’s marching orders,” the memo said.

The memo comes in anticipation of a House vote as early as Tuesday afternoon to elect Jordan as speaker. He will need votes from 217 of the 221 Republicans in the House to secure a win. It’s not clear he has the votes, but numerous GOP critics have been coming around to him.

The two-page memo included a list of what the DCCC described as “key examples of Jordan’s extremism,” citing his attempts to block the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory in 2020, his noncompliance with a subpoena by the now-defunct House Jan. 6 committee, his role as a co-founder of the far-right Freedom Caucus, his opposition to bipartisan bills on immigration and his support for aggressive tactics that Democrats say caused “multiple government shutdowns.”

“A Speaker Jordan means extremism and far-right priorities will govern the House of Representatives,” the memo said. “It is imperative that our caucus makes clear to voters just how extreme Congressman Jordan is and how his Speakership would negatively impact working families across the country, threaten democratic norms, and weaken relationships with our allies.”


It also mentions allegations that, as a wrestling coach decades ago, he turned a blind eye to sexual abuse of wrestlers by a team doctor. Jordan has firmly denied the allegations.

Jordan on Monday cited a need for GOP unity in a letter seeking to consolidate Republican support.

“The principles that unite us as Republicans are far greater than the disagreements that divide us,” he wrote. “And the differences between us and our Democrat colleagues vastly outweigh our internal divisions. The country and our conference cannot afford us attacking each other right now. It is time we unite to get back to work on behalf of the American people.”

A look at the best transfer RBs across the country:

After calming down a bit after this miserable defeat I think I am willing to be patient with CLR and give him time. He's a young coach and he has done a lot of good for our program. Hopefully he can learn from his mistakes.

Having said that he must :
-start admitting they suck and stop sugar coating the losses and terrible play
-communicate a clear path toward identifying the current problems and fixing them
-develop a tougher mindset/ identity with the program. We are too finesse right now
-start recruiting better at all positions not just skill positions. Stop relying on portal players,because I just don't see this working
-get a true, proven DC. This constant missed tackling, poor angles, penalties etc has got to stop

If after 3 years there's no progress then we need to move on.

I may be on the move during the show — Jeff has a function tonight, but he did go to USC hoops practice and shoot a photo gallery for us — but I’ll have the usual transcript up by later tonight.

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Ugggghhh. No fun commentary this week. The guesses were as bad as the game. @jcbraam gets the win with a 14 (but that's like being the best looking corpse) and @jerrybed shows up for the first time in the two year history of GTS to post a 15 and second place. No one else was within 20 points. Bloodbath on the field and on the screen. Don't go Helton and review the film. Just put a bullet in it and move on.

@cramwetzel maintains first overall, but everyone's season score takes a beating.