Rubio, Cantor fielding questions about Rivera

The latest financial dealings from newly sworn in Rep. David Rivera, a Miami Republican, did not go unnoticed by the folks at the Daily Beast -- or by Democrats looking to pounce on problems plaguing incoming GOP freshmen.

The Daily Beast published a story Wednesday about Rivera with the headline, "The GOP's Charlie Rangel," a reference to the scandal-plagued New York Democrat who was recently censured by his colleagues. Later came this post, where Majority Leader Eric Cantor comes in to congratulate Rivera -- only to run into an awkward situation with questions about Rivera's ethics.

That prompted this response from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee: "House Republican Leader Eric Cantor might not have any comment on the rapid evaporation of his zero tolerance policy, but Representative David Rivera’s scandal-plagued record is all the comment that anyone needs," said Jesse Ferguson, a DCCC spokesman.

Meanwhile, Rivera's close ally Marco Rubio fielded questions about his friend before getting sworn into the U.S. Senate Wednesday.

"No one likes to read that stuff, but it will work its way through," Rubio said, after claiming he doesn't know "anything more than what I've read in the press accounts" about Rivera's finances.

Rubio said he backs Rivera: "I hope things will work out, but I don't want to speculate on it beyond what I read," Rubio said. "I don't know any more than what I read and there's a process under way and that will work itself through."

--LESLEY CLARK AND PATRICIA MAZZEI