Mexico is latest country to approve Trump trademark applications, says AP. The Mexican Institute of Industrial Property has granted approval to Trump name trademarks that would "authorize the Trump brand, should it choose, to set up shop" in the country. The Chinese government recently granted preliminary approval for 38 trademarks to Trump and his company. Read more

Kushner family negotiating a $400 million deal with a Chinese firm, says the New York Times. The company, owned by the family of Trump's son-in-law, is in talks to sell a stake in their Fifth-Avenue skyscraper to a Chinese company that has ties to families in China's Communist Party. "If signed, the potential agreement would create a financial marriage of two politically powerful families in the world’s two biggest economies, but it would also present the possibility of glaring conflicts of interest." Read more

Reform groups resubmit request to new SDNY attorney. Democracy 21, joined by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and the Campaign Legal Center, sent a letter to Preet Bharara, then U.S Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Three days after our letter was sent,  Bharara was fired after refusing to join other U.S. Attorneys in submitting their resignations. On Monday, our groups resubmitted the letter to Joon Kim, now acting head, and made the same request to him that he take whatever steps may be necessary to prevent The Trump Organization from receiving any financial benefits from foreign governments that benefit President Trump and that violate the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has ties to secretive billionaire, says the New York Times. Gorsuch represented billionaire Philip Anschultz in the early 2000s. Anschultz inherited an oil and gas firm that he expanded to include real estate, sports teams and conservative publications like The Weekly Standard and The Washington Examiner. In 2006, Anschutz successfully lobbied the Bush administration to nominate Gorsuch to the federal appeals court and Gorsuch has been a speaker at Anschultz’s annual dove-hunting fundraising retreats. Read more 

"FEC earning congressional oversight for the wrong reasons," says the Center for Public Integrity. Members of both parties on the House Administration Committee said it was time for the Committee to provide more oversight of the FEC. The FEC hasn't had to report to Capitol Hill for an oversight hearing since 2011. Read more 

Slow pace of Trump transition empowers lobbyists, says the Hill. "While lobbyists have always cultivated contacts within federal agencies and departments, those relationships have become more important than ever before due to the slow pace of the transition." Lobbying firms staffed by Trump's campaign and transition people are popping up in Washington. Read more