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RE: They must really think we're morons
by Rick Tyler
January 11, 2006

Dear Editor:

In her column ("They must really think we're morons" - Creators Syndicate Columnist Molly Ivins - January 10, 2006), Molly Ivins writes falsely that Newt Gingrich was "fined $300,000" for "misusing nonprofit organizations for political purposes, personally benefiting from political contributions, cutting a sleazy book deal and giving false statements to ethics investigators."

Ms. Ivins has been around long enough to have known the facts. Democrats filed 84 politically motivated ethics charges against Speaker Gingrich. All of them were found to be without merit. The last three were dismissed on October 10, 1998, including the charge of using tax-exempt foundations for political purposes. The fact is, not a single ethics charge filed against Speaker Gingrich was ever found to be based in fact - not one.

During the investigation into the bogus charge of using a tax exempt foundation for political purposes, a letter responding to an inquiry by the Committee prepared and filed by a Gingrich lawyer contained an inaccuracy which was that it characterized GOPAC as an educational foundation. It was not. It was well-known at the time to be a political organization. When Gingrich learned about the discrepancy, he personally accepted responsibility for the misstatement, corrected the record, and agreed to reimburse the Ethics Committee for the cost of that investigation. The agreement specifically noted that it was not a fine as Ms. Ivins incorrectly states in her column but a reimbursement.

The voluntary reimbursement did not stem from the phony charge, but was paid because of the error made by counsel during the investigation - an investigation that concluded no wrongdoing by the Speaker whatsoever.

The actual charge of using tax-exempt foundations for political purposes was dismissed by the bipartisan Ethics Committee as was the case in all 83 of the other charges. Part of the fallout led the IRS to wrongfully revoke the tax exempt status of two groups that organized a non-partisan college course, "Renewing American Civilization," about American culture and history taught by Speaker Gingrich.

However, in April 2003, the IRS recognized its own mistake and reversed itself and restored the tax exempt status of both foundations and apologized to them because there was nothing wrong with Dr. Gingrich, a former college professor with a PhD in Modern European History teaching a nonpolitical class on a college campus. Moreover, a Federal Judge concluded the same thing when it was brought to court by the Federal Election Commission. The college course was found to be just that, a college course and not in any way a political activity.

Ms. Ivins is also aware of the fact the Speaker Gingrich turned down a lawful $4 million advance by Harper Collins for his book "To Renew America" and instead only accepted a single $1. The book went on to become a best seller based on its merits as did several other books authored by Gingrich. I would not have expected Ms. Ivins to like the book, but it's gratuitous to characterize a legitimate book deal by a proven, bona-fide, and best-selling author as "sleazy".

Ultimately, Speaker Gingrich was cleared of wrongdoing by the bipartisan Ethics Committee, the IRS and a Federal Judge, but apparently not by Ms. Ivins. It is obviously unacceptable to her to allow a conservative to teach college courses, write books, or be Speaker of the House.

But to the point, Ms. Ivins can try to ignore the facts, but Speaker Gingrich was vindicated and it is simply wrong to mislead readers by writing that Speaker Gingrich was fined for violating House rules because the record shows that he did not or that a book deal was anything other than a book deal. The fact that he took responsibility for an error during a politically motivated investigation and reimbursed the Ethics Committee from his personal funds marked a new day in Washington and today, despite what Ms. Ivins may think, makes him perfectly suited and extraordinarily well-qualified to be an outspoken critic on the current and very real ethics scandal.

Best regards,
Rick Tyler
Communications Director and Spokesperson
Gingrich Communications
Speaker Newt Gingrich
www.newt.org