Andrew Puzder, Donald Trump's Labor Pick, Withdraws Nomination

Andrew Puzder, President Trump's pick for secretary of labor, said on Twitter that he has withdrawn his nomination to run the nation's department that oversees all aspects of the work force. The announcement came as Republicans were growing concerned with his views on immigration and new allegations of domestic violence that recently surfaced.

"I am withdrawing my nomination for Secretary of Labor," Puzder said in the tweet. "I'm honored to have been considered and am grateful to all who have supported me."

On Tuesday night, Politico published a tape of Puzder's ex-wife on the "The Oprah Winfrey Show," where she said Puzder "vowed revenge" against her after she made allegations that he "violently" slapped her around and caused several injuries including bulging and ruptured discs.

“'I will see you in the gutter,'" Lisa Fierstein, the ex-wife, said he told her on the resurfaced video. "'This will never be over. You will pay for this.'”

She later recanted her allegations as part of a divorce settlement and because, she said, her lawyer gave her bad advice.

Puzder — the CEO of CKE Restaurants, which owns Hardees and Carl's Jr. — was scheduled to appear before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday for his confirmation hearing. Democrats had vowed to oppose his nomination, at odds with his stances on union labor, the minimum wage and workforce automation.

And recent revelations that he employed an undocumented worker and the domestic abuse allegations by his former wife hurt his standing with some Republicans uncertain.

Fierstein accused Puzder, who now lives in Franklin, Tennessee, of domestic violence during their 1987 divorce. She eventually dropped the claims as part of a child custody agreement, eight months after her television appearance. Puzder denied they ever happened.

Fierstein's appearance on the 1990 episode of Winfrey's show, titled "High Class Battered Women," was known, and multiple media outlets had said they were looking for a tape of her remarks.

Politico published the video Tuesday night.

Wearing glasses and a large wig, Fierstein, under the pseudonym "Ann," spoke generally about the abuse she suffered under her husband.

"I wound up losing everything, everything," she said on the show. "I have nothing. He has a Porsche and a Mercedes-Benz. He has the home. He has everything. He was an attorney, and he knew how to play the system."

"Most men who are in positions like that don't leave marks," she later said. "The damage that I sustained, you can't see. It's permanent, permanent damage. But there's no mark, and there never was. They don't hit you in the face. They're too smart. They don't hit you in front of everyone."

Three years earlier, court filings used graphic terms to describe the alleged violence.

Puzder "assaulted and battered" her "by striking her violently about the face, chest, back, shoulders and neck, without provocation on cause," according to a petition she filed in a Missouri court in 1988, which was posted by Politico.

The assault caused bruises and contusions in her upper body along with two ruptured and two bulging discs, the petition says. Puzder used "insulting language" toward Fierstein, according to the petition, which sought $350,000.

The petition was dismissed because the judge said the divorce agreement had settled their claims, according to Politico. The abuse allegations were dropped as part of the custody agreement.

Fierstein continues to say it never happened.

"What we should have handled in a mature and private way became a contentious and ugly public divorce," Fierstein said in a recent letter to the Senate committee members.

Fierstein said in the letter that she only went on the show because she was "encouraged by friends and became caught up in the notion of a free trip to Chicago."

She said she received bad advice from an attorney who had a vendetta against Puzder.

"Upon reflection, I believe I became a pawn in the debate and believe strongly that my attorney's advice was tainted as a result of his own personal agenda," Fierstein said in her letter.

More allegations could surface soon, though. The Campaign for Accountability is seeking divorce documents that were sealed after Puzder's nomination.

George Thompson, a spokesman for Puzder, told Politico that the two remain close friends.

"Perpetuating these retracted 30-year-old allegations and an impulsive decision to appear on a talk show is nothing more than a desperate attempt to tarnish Andy Puzder at the expense of Lisa and their family," Thompson told Politico.

Read the full Politico story here.

Image via Gage Skidmore, used under Creative Commons