Hi, everyone. Welcome to Tuesday. It's 4 o'clock in New York. The rehabilitation effort is very much underway. And as these things go, this one has been particularly painful to watch. We are, of course, talking about Trump's nominee to run the Pentagon.

Former Fox News weekend morning show anchor Pete Hegeseth, who was on Capitol Hill today,

meeting with Republican senators in an effort to do damage control after a slew of allegations,

allegations that at any other point in American political history have been disqualifying,

including that bombshell reporting from the New Yorker's Jane Mayor,

about a, quote, trail of documents corroborated by the accounts of former colleagues,

indicating that Heggseth was forced to step down from not one but two nonprofit advocacy groups that he ran in the face of, quote,

serious allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual impropriety, and personal misconduct.

And by the sound of it, more bombshells could very well be coming soon.

Here's what the New Yorkers Jane Merr told my colleague, Rachel Maddow.

It's been almost a day since this story came out and my phone has been ringing off the hook.

I have been hearing from many more people who worked with Pete Higgsith, who have come out of

the sort of woodwork to say they too have stories along the same lines.

Her phone has been ringing off the hook, as Rachel likes to say, watch this space.

And if at this point you're sensing a theme among Trump's cabinet picks, it's not you, it's them.

The New York Times analyzed more than 60 of Trump's cabinet picks and potential senior members of a Trump administration, end quote, a number of patterns emerged. Some were benign, albeit ironic, given Trump's constant griping about elites, things like having attended Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. but, quote, other uniting factors were unprecedented.

Many of the nominees have denied or questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Some lack the traditional qualifications shared by their predecessor.

It appears that the most important qualifier in Trump's mind has been fealty to him, which many of his picks have demonstrated in various ways over the past few years.

13 of Donald Trump's picks showed their fealty by making an appearance at Trump's criminal trial here in New York.

Another surefire way to show your fealty. Become a fixture at Mar-Lago.

Twelve of Trump's picks hosted or co-hosted events at Mar-a-Lago.

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