Andy Puzder has finally filed his ethics paperwork, clearing the way for him to have the confirmation hearing that has been delayed five times. Donald Trump’s labor secretary pick says he’ll resign as CEO of CKE restaurants, the parent company of Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr.; sell off his CKE stock; and … hmmm.

"I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter in which I know that I have a financial interest directly and predictably affected by the matter" without a waiver from government ethics officials, Andrew Puzder wrote in the nine-page filing, dated Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press. Puzder is CEO of CKE Restaurants Inc., which owns such chains as Hardee's and Carl's Jr.

Personally and substantially and directly and predictably, at least not without a waiver. Does that sound like a lot of hedging to you?

Puzder's intent, spokesman George Thompson said, is to recuse himself from all matters involving CKE or its parent companies.

But the labor secretary can do plenty that indirectly affects CKE by influencing the fast food industry as a whole.

Also, while Puzder is divesting his assets, he’s not using a blind trust (instead, he’ll put his money in “non-conflicting assets”) and he’s looking for extra time to sell everything off. Not the most confidence-inspiring process, on the whole, though Puzder—like all Trump nominees—benefits by comparison with Trump’s absurd sham of an arrangement for even pretending to avoid conflicts of interest.

Jennifer Bendery reports that California Democrat Ted Lieu, who represents the state’s 33rd Congressional District, said Tuesday that the pressures of the job means every president should have access to a mental health professional. Since 1928, Congress has required that there be a physician assigned to the White House. But not a psychiatrist. That, he says, is an oversight:

“I’m looking at it from the perspective of, if there are questions about the mental health of the president of the United States, what may be the best way to get the president treatment?” Lieu said in an interview with The Huffington Post. “We’re now in the 21st century. Mental health is just as important as physical health.”

But he isn’t just thinking about future presidents. Lieu said he’s been increasingly alarmed by Trump’s erratic behavior and penchant for lying about things, big and small, that are easy to disprove. 

“It is not normal for the president of the United States, within 24 hours, to write about death and destruction and fake news and evil,” he said. “The most troubling aspect of this is it is very clear he has a disconnection from the truth. … The very first press conference he had in this administration, they could have talked about jobs or health care. They talked about crowd size. And then lied about it. It’s one of the most bizarre events I’ve witnessed in politics.”

In fact, Lieu says, “I’ve concluded he is a danger to the Republic.” 

Many other elected officials may be thinking Trump’s mental health needs examining, too. But only a few have publicly announced their views. Last week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she thinks legislation in this regard would be a good idea:

You probably are aware of this, but I found it intriguing that House Oversight Committee Chairman [Jason] Chaffetz told the Washington Post that he was weighing legislation that, in essence, says that if you’re going to have your hands on the nuclear codes, we should probably know what mental state you’re in. I can’t wait until he introduces that legislation to be able to join as a cosponsor of that … I think it’s a very good idea.

But Chaffetz’s legislation would only apply to future presidents and, in this instance, better late than never may not prove to be true.

Mitch McConnell has already said he just couldn't be happier than he is with Popular Vote Loser Donald Trump, so now it's House Speaker Paul Ryan's turn to eat shit and tell the world just how fine he is with President Bannon.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Wednesday that he and White House adviser Steve Bannon have their differences, but Ryan insisted that they are united behind a common goal. […]

"He’s not someone I have a history with. Obviously, I didn’t know him when he was opposing me all those times. We’re different kinds of conservatives — that’s something that I can safely say, I think." Ryan said. "But we’re serving a purpose, which is to get this agenda passed."

The speaker said that he and Bannon agree on Republicans' agenda right now.

"And on this agenda that we have rolled out, that we ran on, on that, we agree. So I see a person in which I have a common cause and purpose with," Ryan said. "We’re different kinds of conservatives. We really don’t know each other, but we’re all trying to get this agenda enacted. And that’s why I don’t see a problem here."

Ryan clearly stopped listening at "tax cuts." All the rest is just noise to him.

Thursday morning Kellyanne Conway appeared on Fox & Friends to implore viewers to "Go buy Ivanka's stuff!" She made the remarks in a remote appearance from the White House, with the White House logo as the backdrop of the interview and the reaction was swift and unanimous: this “commercial” (Kellyanne’s own word) for Ivanka Trump’s clothing line was a violation of federal law. 

Richard Painter, former Chief Ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush, agreed it was clear violation, but he went even further. In an interview with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC, he says the bigger concern is Donald Trump’s intimidation of Nordstrom. Watch and jump below for the transcript:

A three-judge panel on Thursday kept in place a temporary restraining order that blocks Donald Trump's Muslim ban nationwide. Here’s the ruling from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The ruling was not on the merits of ban itself, but rather a decision to continue blocking the ban while the executive order itself is under review. The Trump administration is expected to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.

This decision is a complete repudiation of the argument government lawyers made that the executive branch has unchecked authority over immigration issues. From the opinion:

In short, although courts owe considerable deference to the President’s policy determinations with respect to immigration and national security, it is beyond question that the federal judiciary retains the authority to adjudicate constitutional challenges to executive action. 

Sen. Kamala Harris is introducing her first-ever bill in the Senate, and it takes aim squarely at Donald Trump’s Muslim ban. The California Democrat’s bill would:

… guarantee legal counsel for refugees and other travelers blocked at U.S. ports of entry, a bill intended to address the chaos that engulfed people trying to enter the country in the face of President Trump’s travel ban. [...]

Harris’ office said the senator received numerous reports of “refugees, green-card holders and even U.S. citizens — many of whom were women, elderly, or children — held for long periods of time, and denied access to volunteer lawyers” when the ban was imposed.

The bill has six co-sponsors: Connecticut’s Richard Blumenthal, New Jersey’s Cory Booker, Delaware’s Tom Carper, New York’s Kirsten Gillibrand, and both Massachusetts senators, Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren. Chances that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will allow it to come to a vote are virtually nil, but the thing is, you have to try. Democrats have to relentlessly offer a vision for the United States that stands both against Donald Trump and for a positive agenda of helping refugees, helping working families, defending legal rights like the right to counsel, and more. Kamala Harris is hitting the ground running.

It's hard sometimes to figure out what is the most disqualifying thing about Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) for serving in any presidential administration. There's the very strong appearance of very deep corruption during his congressional career. 

"It's crazy," says Richard Painter, former chief ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush whose job included vetting nominees. "We wouldn’t have put up with anybody in the Bush administration buying and selling health care stocks. When you engage in this kind of conduct, you’re asking for allegations to be made against you."

There's his longstanding efforts to destroy Medicare. Which is not hyperbole.

With true radical zeal, Price has said "We will not rest until we make certain that government-run health care [e.g., Medicare] is ended." If confirmed by the Senate, Price will be in a powerful position to carry out his threat to end Medicare.

But let's talk about the more immediate concern, one that Republicans should be freaking out just a little bit about. While they continue to fight out their repeal and replace "strategy" on Obamacare, Price has a plan. And as HHS Secretary, Price can do so much damage to Obamacare—without Congress lifting a finger—that they will be under even more pressure to come up with a fix to pick up the pieces.

Though some Republicans have called for getting rid of the EPA altogether, the Trump regime has a different plan: Keep the agency around in name only but stop enforcing environmental laws.

The Trump administration is considering closing down the enforcement division of the Environmental Protection Agency, according to a report Wednesday evening from Inside EPA.

Destroying the Office of Enforcement & Compliance Assurance would mean getting rid of the people who specialize in seeing that environmental regulations are actually followed, and dropping this responsibility back onto the departments. It means that the people who have the backgrounds to work with law enforcement and the courts would be gone, and any action would have to be taken by the people who currently work in performing analysis or conducting research.

It’s a formula designed to both cripple the EPA’s data collection and all but eliminate the enforcement of laws.

OECA handles both civil and criminal enforcement of the country’s core environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Oil Pollution Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act. The office is an independent body with about 3,000 employees who “work to advance environmental justice by protecting communities most vulnerable to pollution.”

Republicans in Congress have already repealed regulations protecting streams from mining waste and limiting disposal of methane that accelerates global warming. They were thinking too small. What does it matter if there are regulations, when there is no one to enforce them?

Something stunning has just taken place. GOP Rep. Jason Chaffetz—chair of the House Oversight Committee and Clinton investigation enthusiast—found White House aide Kellyanne Conway's attempt to hawk Ivanka Trump merchandise just too egregious to ignore. After Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings sent Chaffetz a letter recommending that Conway’s “Buy Ivanka's stuff” pitch be referred to the Office of Government Ethics, Chaffetz agreed.

Chaffetz has repeatedly eschewed ethics questions about Donald Trump, but Conway’s White House plug for Ivanka’s line was apparently beyond the pale.

"I'm going to give a free commercial here," Conway told Fox & Friends viewers Thursday morning, the White House emblem flanking her left shoulder. "Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.”

Chaffetz had already endured 24 hours of heat over Trump’s Wednesday tweet saying Ivanka had been treated “so unfairly” by Nordstrom because the store dumped her fashion line for underperforming. “All the things facing this nation,” Chaffetz told CNN of Trump’s tweet, “this is not in the top 757 of the most important things out there.”

One of the laws Cummings referenced in his letter to Chaffetz was an executive order issued by President George H.W. Bush in 1989 stating that government employees "shall not use public office for private gain." To use a top-of-mind quote, that seems like something even a "bad high school student" would understand.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer wasn’t keen on exploring the topic at Thursday’s briefing. "Kellyanne has been counseled,” Spicer said, “That's all we're going to go with." Moving along. Mark my words, one of these ethics violations will eventually lead to the release of Trump’s tax returns. 

Republican Congressman Mo Brooks (AL-05) was supposed to hold a town hall meeting with constituents back in Huntsville, Alabama, this week, but he had a sudden change of heart after the event “sold out.” From the blog Left in Alabama (which you should be reading if you are interested in Alabama politics):

Dear Mo Brooks: we in AL-05 smell chicken.  Many AL-05 residents were excited by the opportunity to see AL-05 Congressman Mo Brooks in his native habitat: a Tea Party meeting held in a Baptist Church. But alas, it was not to be. Rep. Brooks & the Huntsville, AL Tea Party group abruptly canceled Thursday’s event – after the Eventbrite ticket sign-up for free tickets sold out.

Brooks’ office explained that it was never a “public town hall,” but a “private” address to the Huntsville Tea Party.

Apparently, someone forgot to tell the TEA Party, because their Facebook page advertised the event as a “town hall” that was “free and public welcome.”

The announcement disappeared from the group’s Facebook page late yesterday morning and the group’s Web site several hours later. Many people, however, had already printed their tickets.

Apparently Republicans can only meet with small subsets of constituents who fully agree with their agenda and buy their snake oil by the gallon. 

The Huntsville Tea Party and Congressman Brooks offered different versions for the sudden cancellation, finally settling on “we won’t meet until Trump’s cabinet is confirmed.” What in the hell that has to do with the price of tea in China remains to be seen. Either way, when it does get rescheduled, you better believe his constituents are going to show. Will Mo Brooks?

Even though there are mountains of evidence. Even though the implications literally include an existential threat to the United States. Even though it is, by any measure, the greatest scandal ever to affect this or any other administration … the story has utterly vanished from the media:

According to the consensus assessment of US intelligence agencies, Russian intelligence, under the orders of Vladimir Putin, mounted an extensive operation to influence the 2016 campaign to benefit Donald Trump. This was a widespread covert campaign that included hacking Democratic targets and publishing swiped emails via WikiLeaks. And it achieved its objectives. 

That this story is constantly forgotten behind a barrage of daily nonsense is both maddening and astounding. At the very least, we know that ...

• Trump’s campaign manager worked directly for Russia to subvert the government of the Ukraine, and was paid millions of dollars to generate “spontaneous demonstrations” in which US Marines were attacked in order to give Putin an excuse to seize Crimea.

• The Russian assistant ambassador is on record saying that, despite numerous denials, Russia was in contact with the Trump campaign on a regular basis.

• The only item where the Trump campaign forced a change in the Republican platform—the only item—was in modifying a plank to weaken the party’s stance on opposing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And Trump representatives said that concern came from Trump personally.

And yes, out there is a supposed folio of kompromat containing items that Russia feels it can use to put pressure on Trump and his team. But even if every disgusting item in that secret file is just a fantasy, how is it possible that this story has completely disappeared?