Amelia
Rookie
- Banned
- #1
Stipulating that Newt was later cleared of the charge for which he was sanctioned ... why did the Democrats get away with coercing a confession out of him and why did so many Republicans vote against Gingrich on that 84th charge?
Forgive me if this has been asked and answered. I have been trying not to think about Gingrich. It hasn't worked out very well, but I've been trying.
Was it his past offenses and his personal life which made it so easy for his fellow Republicans to bail on him? Was it simple exhaustion under the relentless efforts of the Democrats to bring Gingrich down after he so effectively damaged them? Why were the Democrats effective, why did Gingrich give in, and why did so many of his party members vote against him?
This is the Wiki summary for convenience.
Newt Gingrich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Forgive me if this has been asked and answered. I have been trying not to think about Gingrich. It hasn't worked out very well, but I've been trying.
Was it his past offenses and his personal life which made it so easy for his fellow Republicans to bail on him? Was it simple exhaustion under the relentless efforts of the Democrats to bring Gingrich down after he so effectively damaged them? Why were the Democrats effective, why did Gingrich give in, and why did so many of his party members vote against him?
This is the Wiki summary for convenience.
Ethics charges, reprimand and fine
Eighty-four ethics charges were filed against Gingrich during his term as Speaker, all but one of which were eventually dropped. After an extensive investigation and negotiation by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee, Gingrich was reprimanded and fined $300,000 by an overwhelming 395-28 House vote, with both Republicans and Democrats speaking in favor of those sanctions. It was the first time in the history of the House that a Speaker was disciplined for an ethics violation.
The last three charges were dropped because although it was found that he had violated a House rule in the past, there was no evidence that Gingrich was still violating it at the time of the investigation. The one charge not dropped was a charge of claiming tax-exempt status for a college course run for political purposes. In addition, the House Ethics Committee concluded that inaccurate information supplied to investigators represented "intentional or ... reckless" disregard of House rules.
The Ethics Committee's Special Counsel, James M. Cole, concluded that Gingrich had violated federal tax law and had lied to the ethics panel in an effort to force the committee to dismiss the complaint against him. The full committee panel did not agree whether tax law had been violated and left that issue up to the IRS. In 1999, the IRS cleared the organizations connected with the "Renewing American Civilization" courses under investigation for possible tax violations.
In January 1997, Gingrich said "I did not manage the effort intensely enough to thoroughly direct or review information being submitted to the committee on my behalf. In my name and over my signature, inaccurate, incomplete and unreliable statements were given to the committee, but I did not intend to mislead the committee." But he also apologized, saying "I brought down on the people's house a controversy which could weaken the faith people have in their government."
Newt Gingrich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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