The man who has emerged as the MAGA favourite to lead the Senate during Donald Trump’s second administration presided over one of the biggest medical frauds in American history.
Like Mr Trump, Rick Scott is both incredibly wealthy and deeply familiar with legal troubles.
In 2003, his company, Columbia/HCA, once the biggest private hospital chain in the US, was forced to pay $1.7 billion after it was found to have defrauded Medicare.
Then the CEO, Mr Scott departed with a $10 million severance package. In a 2010 campaign ad, he said the company had “made mistakes” but that he took responsibility, pledging to “learn from it”.
Now a major political figure in his first term in office, Mr Scott has become one of Mr Trump’s most vigorous cheerleaders in the Senate and compares his legal issues to the four criminal cases against the president-elect.
Back in May, he likened his company’s $1.7 billion settlement – then the largest medical fraud fine in US history – to the legal cases against Mr Trump, calling them all “political persecution”.
“It happened to me,” he told Fox. “I fought Hillarycare, and guess what happened when I fought Hillarycare? Justice came after me and attacked me and my company.”
Mr Scott has been talked up by members of Mr Trump’s inner circle, including Elon Musk, as the Senate’s next majority leader.
The GOP overturned the slim Democratic majority in the Senate at last Tuesday’s election, and looks on course for a congressional clean sweep, removing possible barriers to Mr Trump’s domestic agenda after Jan 20.
Already, Mr Trump has said he will reward loyalty in the Senate, calling on various senators vying for the leadership to agree to “recess appointments”, which would allow him to install allies in Cabinet posts without confirmation.
That idea is anathema to some constitutional traditionalists, who argue that any appointments must be confirmed in the usual way to allow the states to have their say on Mr Trump’s top team.
For others, the wheeze would allow Mr Trump to avoid time-consuming and controversial wrangling over his Cabinet and appoint allies who may not be popular with Republican colleagues.
One Capitol Hill source told The Telegraph that Mr Trump was concerned about the confirmation of Richard Grenell, who is in the running to be secretary of state, but is seen as unpopular among some senators.
The winning candidate to be majority leader will be chosen by a vote of senators, not Mr Trump, but the Republican presidential winner’s endorsement will make a significant difference to the shape of the race.
Other contenders include the current Senate minority whip, John Thune, and John Cornyn, a former deputy of Mitch McConnell, the outgoing GOP Senate leader.
Mr Scott has emerged as a contender for the role in a demonstration of the power that Mr Trump and his allies have over congressional politics.
It also demonstrates the “Floridification” of Republican politics with many of his most recent allies hailing from the Sunshine State, where his Mar-a-Lago club is located.
In interviews on Monday, Mr Scott said repeatedly that he was in favour of the “Trump agenda”, effectively promoting himself as a loyal lieutenant in the upper chamber during the president-elect’s second term.
“I talk to all my colleagues, and they are clear what they want and know we need to change,” he told NBC.
“They want to be treated as equals, and want to be part of a team. They know I have a great relationship with Trump and the speaker of the House, and I am a business guy. And I will get the Trump agenda done.”
The Senate leadership is a key political post because the winner of the election will have the power to keep Mr Trump in check, should his second administration prove controversial or legally problematic.
The Senate has veto power over many government appointments and over trade deals, which are likely to become a major foreign policy tool after Mr Trump announced he plans blanket tariffs on all foreign imports.
