Pelosi Defends Democrats On Ethics

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) has talked with RNC co-chair Lara Trump about her interest in filling the Senate seat set to be vacated by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) — and is now pushing for her selection, Axios reports.

“Michael Anton and Sebastian Gorka are in the running to be President-elect Donald Trump’s deputy national security adviser,” Politico reports. “With either selection Trump would elevate a firebrand loyalist who served in the incoming commander-in-chief’s first administration to one of the White House’s top roles.”

The Miami Herald confirms that the Ethics Report on former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is “highly damaging” — and could be leaked today. John Clune, the lawyer for the then-minor who was the focus of the Matt Gaetz sex trafficking investigation, posted: “We would support the House Ethics Committee immediately releasing their report.

Trump lawyer Alina Habba said she won’t be White House press secretary: “Although I love screaming from a podium I will be better served in other capacities.“

Former restaurant CEO Andrew Puzder “is among the contenders being considered by President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team to lead the federal agency that enforces worker safety, minimum wage, child labor, retirement security, and other employment laws,” Bloomberg Law reports. “Puzder was Trump’s original choice for labor secretary when he was first elected in 2017.” Playbook: “You may recall Puzder as Trump’s Labor secretary nominee last term — who withdrew after he admitted to having an undocumented housekeeper and after our colleagues Marianne LeVine and Timothy Noah revealed that his ex-wife appeared on a 1990 Oprah episode about domestic abuse.”

The Bulwark: “Smith must decide whether to complete two separate reports covering the two distinct investigations or a single report encompassing both.” “Either way, just over two months is not a lot of time to assemble final reports covering such large investigations, so Smith’s team will need to work fast.”