On Wednesday afternoon, Matthew Whitaker, Donald Trump’s power-squatting pick to serve as interim acting attorney general, got some good news and some less-good news. Following a request by Maryland on Tuesday that Whitaker be barred from serving as acting A.G., as well as a torrent of op-eds from people like Kellyanne Conway’s husband saying Whitaker’s appointment is unconstitutional, the Department of Justice put out a 20-page memo claiming Whitaker’s senior status at the department “unquestionably” authorizes him to serve in the position, despite the fact that he was never confirmed by the Senate. That was the good news. The less-good news, if you’re Whitaker—who many lawmakers see as a clear threat to the Russia investigation—is that he will still face legal challenges to his appointment, with a hearing for the Maryland case set for December 19. Oh, and that Democrats are not just going to let his involvement with a scam patent company accused of bilking inventors out of millions, threatening customers with retribution, and hawking a time-travel cryptocurrency, and a special toilet for the “well-endowed,” slide:

Reps. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), sent seven letters requesting information on Whitaker's participation with World Patent Marketing, which was charged last year by the Federal Trade Commission with promoting an “invention-promotion scam.” Whitaker, who became acting attorney general last week after the removal of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, was on the advisory board for World Patent Marketing.

Writing that “because the Senate was not given an opportunity to properly vet Mr. Whitaker’s background, serious questions are now arising about his fitness to serve in this position of trust,” the congressmen cited court records that accuse the Iowa-born attorney of playing a key role in some of World Patent Marketing’s alleged misconduct, such as leveraging his career in federal law enforcement to threaten a complaining customer with “serious civil and criminal consequences.” While the F.T.C. charged that the company promised investors patenting and promotional assistance but in reality “provided almost no service in return” (the company reportedly settled with the agency earlier this year, and agreed not to promote any other patent-marketing services), it appears that there were at least a few products Whitaker & co. threw their weight behind:

In November 2014 . . . World Patent Marketing, announced the “marketing launch” of a “MASCULINE TOILET,” which boasted a specially designed bowl to help “well-endowed men” avoid unwanted contact with porcelain or water. “The average male genitalia is between 5” and 6.”” the firm’s press release said. “However, this invention is designed for those of us who measure longer than that.”

The special toilet was not the firm’s only notable offering. It marketed a slew of oddball inventions, including a “theoretical time travel commodity tied directly to price of Bitcoin.” Called Time Travel X and marketed as “a technology, an investment vehicle and a community of users,” the cryptocurrency never materialized. The firm also pitched Sasquatch dolls, promoting them with a video claiming that “DNA evidence collected in 2013 proves that Bigfoot does exist.”

Yes, this alone should probably bar Whitaker from holding any job whatsoever with the federal government, but it turns out World Patent Marketing isn’t the only . . . blemish on his résumé. According to a fun new report from the Associated Press:

While in private business, acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker walked away from a taxpayer-subsidized apartment-rehabilitation project in Iowa after years of cost overruns, delays and other problems, public records show.

The city of Des Moines ultimately yanked an affordable housing loan that Whitaker’s company had been awarded, and another lender began foreclosure proceedings after Whitaker defaulted on a separate loan for nearly $700,000. Several contractors complained they were not paid, and a process server for one contractor could not even find Whitaker or his company to serve him with a lawsuit. . . . The contractors included an electrician who filed a lawsuit seeking to collect more than $14,000 in unpaid invoices. A process server said in a court filing that repeated visits to three addresses listed for Whitaker’s company and his law firm turned up nothing other than dark, locked offices.

(Per the A.P., the contractor’s suit was ultimately dismissed after both the contractor and Whitaker failed to show up to a court hearing. A lawyer who represented Whitaker’s company didn’t respond to the outlet’s request for comment.)

Unpaid contractors? Defaulting on loans? Screw attorney general, this guy’s got running-mate 2020 written all over him!

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Wells Fargo takes an interesting approach to shareholder lawsuit

Which is, basically: we can’t be held accountable for the things we say because we’re quite obviously full of s--t. Per the *L.A. Times:*

Wells Fargo, which is struggling to rebuild its reputation for integrity after a string of scandals involving consumer rip-offs, is testing the limits of the “puffery” defense. In a legal filing last week aimed at getting a shareholder lawsuit dismissed, the company asserted that statements that the bank was working to “restore trust” among its customers and “trying to be more transparent” about its scandals—statements made by its chief executive, Tim Sloan—were, well, just puffery.

The filing says these were generic statements “on which no reasonable investor could rely.” Therefore, even though the bank’s stock price fell sharply when evidence emerged that they were false, investors don’t have grounds to sue for their losses.

In recent years, Wells Fargo has made a name for itself as the premiere firm to turn to if you’re looking to get ripped off, with a never-ending stream of scandals ranging from its little fake-accounts debacle to enrolling hundreds of thousands of customers in auto-insurance they didn’t need, which in some cases resulted in people’s cars being repossessed. So, shareholders probably should have assumed that Sloan was lying through his caps when he claimed the bank was all about setting things straight, but it’s nice to see Wells Fargo confirm it so definitively!

E.U. sends Trump a friendly warning

If the president is crazy enough to impose auto tariffs—which U.S. groups have said “would be a self-inflicted economic disaster for American consumers, dealers, and dealership employees”—the bloc will have no choice but to hit back. “These tariffs would be damaging, not only for the European economy but for the U.S. economy,” European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom warned Wednesday in Washington after meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Uber C.E.O. doesn’t want to rush to judgement over Khashoggi killing

Taking a page from Wall Street’s playbook, Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi essentially said last night that while the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi was “horrible,” he’s going to stall for more time until this whole thing blows over and his company can continue accepting Saudi cash without being judged for it.

“We’re in a situation where we can wait to get the facts,” Mr. Khosrowshahi said at The Wall Street Journal’s WSJ Tech D.Live conference Tuesday. “Once we get the facts and understand exactly what happened we will do our best to react as a company.”

The facts, which have been out there for some time now, are that a kill team with connections to the Saudi government murdered a journalist and dissident in a pre-meditated fashion. At this point the only thing left to determine is whether Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is lying when he claims he wasn’t involved, and U.S. officials privately believe it’s highly unlikely an operation like this would have gone down without the de facto ruler’s knowledge (he’s reportedly been linked to at least 5 of the 15 Saudi officials said to be involved). There’s also audio of a member of the kill team telling a superior over the phone to “tell your boss”—widely believed to be a reference to M.B.S.—that “the deed [is] done.” But, as The Wall Street Journal notes, the kingdom has invested billions in Uber, and one of its investment fund’s managing directors sit on the company’s board, so . . . let’s get all the facts first!

Elsewhere!

Elon Musk’s “Teslaquila” drink faces clash with Mexican tequila industry (Reuters)

Amazon says $3B in tax breaks didn’t sway HQ2 decisions ((N.Y.P.)

U.K.’s May Gets Cabinet’s Go-Ahead on Brexit Deal (W.S.J.)

G.E. Credit Crunch Ripples Across Wall Street (W.S.J.)

Key Democrat Demands Changes to New North America Trade Deal (Bloomberg)

“White-Collar Recession” Ripples Through Dubai (W.S.J.)

“Monopoly for Millennials” swaps real estate for ‘experiences’ (UPI)

Longtime hedge-fund manager Steve Cohen says returns won’t be very good over the next 2 years, bear market possible (CNBC)

“It never bothered me not having other people’s money because I had a lot of my own money” (Financial Times)

Florida woman steals live lobster from Red Lobster tank after being asked to leave restaurant (CBS17)