WASHINGTON President Donald Trump s nominee to run the Department of Labor, Andrew Puzder, employed an undocumented immigrant as household help, Puzder has informed members of the administration and officials in the Senate involved in his confirmation process.

Hiring undocumented workers has sunk nominees in the past, particularly when it reflects directly on the scope of the Cabinet position. But Trump transition officials told Puzder that the previous rules for vetting and strict ethics no longer applied. The view in the transition was thats the old model, said one GOP official involved with Puzders nomination.

Asked for comment, a White House official forwarded the request to a spokesman for Puzder, who provided a statement on his behalf:

My wife and I employed a housekeeper for a few years, during which I was unaware that she was not legally permitted to work in the U.S. When I learned of her status, we immediately ended her employment and offered her assistance in getting legal status. We have fully paid back taxes to the IRS and the State of California and submitted all required paperwork.

The woman, according to a separate source, declined the offer, fearful that it would lead to detainment and deportation.

Zoe Baird, President Bill Clintons first nominee to become attorney general, withdrew after it emerged she had hired an undocumented nanny, and her story became a cautionary tale for nominees going forward. (Clintons second nominee, Kimba Wood, was also withdrawn over her employment of an undocumented immigrant as a nanny.) But Trumps team took the opposite lesson from the Baird affair, the transition official said. While Baird may have withdrawn from the AG process, she was subsequently named to a variety of government boards by Clinton, President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama . It was hypocritical to cave to the gotcha and pull her nomination publicly only to quietly install her in government positions over many years to come, transition officials argued in suggesting that Puzder plow ahead.

And Puzders willingness to aid an undocumented worker, however much it may clash with the rhetoric of the Trump administration , is far from the biggest knock on his nomination. His ex-wife accused him of domestic violence in a sworn affidavit, a claim she repeated incognito on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She subsequently wrote Puzder a letter dated Nov. 19, 1990, which his spokesman provided to The Huffington Post, that reads: All allegations of abuse of any kind were made in the context of divorce proceedings. I fully withdraw these allegations. His fast-food restaurants, meanwhile, have been found guilty of an extraordinary number of labor violations .