Good Wednesday morning, I'm Anna Palmer and welcome to your Politico Playbook audio briefing sponsored by Chevron.

Some breaking news this morning. The Guardian is reporting that Scott Brown, now U.S. ambassador to New Zealand,

is being investigated over inappropriate comments he made during a trip to Samoa.

Brown confirmed he was the subject of an official administration inquiry by the

State Department over comments he made at a party in the Samoan Capitol, where he told attendees

they looked beautiful and could make hundreds of dollars working in the hospitality industry

in the U.S. The Guardian reports that Brown and his wife, so they had no idea the comments would be regarded

as offensive. Brown said, I was told by my people that you're not Scott Brown from New Hampshire

anymore. You're an ambassador, and you have to be culturally aware of different cultures and

sensitivities. We are in a different culture, even though we all speak English, sometimes when we say

one thing,

it means the complete different thing. And I'm Jake Sherman. Of course, the big news of the day is the

fallout from Arizona Senator Jeff Flake's stunning announcement that he will not seek

reelection to the Senate. The Washington Post 30,000 foot story notes that Flake and Tennessee

Senator Bob Corker at the same time sounded the alarm about Trump's fitness for office,

and the two Republicans warned that his actions were degrading and dangerous to the country.

While Flake's floor speech was won for the record books, he also gave a pretty stunning interview ahead of his announcement to the Arizona Republic. Flake said, here's the bottom line.

The path that I would have to travel to get the Republican nomination

is a path I'm not willing to take, and that I can't in good conscious take. It would require me

to believe in positions I don't hold on such issues as trade and immigration, and it would

require me to condone behavior that I cannot condone. What Flake is saying is the political

environment is so toxic that it is

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