DON FOWLER

Harrison, the longtime Democratic Party official, is President-elect Joe Bidens choice to lead the national party, according to multiple party officials. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro, File)COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Democratic National Committee elected Jaime Harrison of South Carolina as chair on Thursday, signifying an early alignment between newly inaugurated President Joe Biden and state party leaders around the country. Harrison was a key liaison with state party leaders with whom Perez sometimes had rocky relationships. Harrison, 44, comes into the job with overwhelming support from state party leaders, making his elevation a sign of relative unity in a party organization often beset by infighting among state leaders and Washington power players. Thursday's meeting also included a video tribute to Don Fowler, a former national party chair and mainstay of South Carolina politics, who died last month at age 85.

Three weeks after Jeffrey Epstein was arrested on child sex trafficking charges, Democratic fundraising groups have remained silent on whether they will donate or give back contributions from the wealthy financier. When asked whether the Democratic National Committee or the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will return or contribute these Epstein funds to a charity organization, press representatives for the groups did not respond. Epstein gave at least $80,000 combined to the DNC and the DSCC from the late 1990s through the early 2000s, according to Federal Election Commission records. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee saw a $10,000 donation from Epstein last year but immediately sent it back. John Kasich, who received a $1,000 Epstein contribution during his time in Congress records do not show that he gave to GOP fundraising committees.