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Newt Gingrich owed up to $500,000 to Tiffany
Newt and Callista Gingrich.
(Credit: Citizens United Productions)Updated 5:52 p.m. Eastern Time
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who entered the 2012 presidential race just last Wednesday, is having an epically bad week. And it's only Tuesday.
On Sunday, Gingrich angered conservatives by criticizing Rep. Paul Ryan's budget plan and semi-supporting an individual mandate for health care. Now he is being stung by a report that he carried up to $500,000 in debt to the Tiffany jewelry company - and may still be carrying it.
Politico got the scoop by looking at financial records filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives in 2005 and 2006. (CBS News has now viewed the records and can confirm the report.) While Newt Gingrich has not been in the House since 1999, his wife, Callista Gingrich, worked for the House Agriculture Committee through 2007.
Callista Gingrich reported a "revolving charge account" at Tiffany and Company that she indicated was for the debt of her spouse. (A "revolving charge account" is a credit card.) She reported the debt to be in the range of $250,001 to $500,000.
Gingrich spokesman Rick Tyler declined to comment to Politico on why the Gingriches were carrying the debt to the jewelry company - or whether they still carried it.
Newt and Callista Gingrich no longer have to file financial disclosure forms since they are no longer employed by Congress, though Gingrich will have to file a personal financial disclosure in his capacity as a presidential candidate.
The disclosures also indicate that the Gingriches owed between $15,000 and $50,000 to the credit card company American Express. In 2006, the couple reported between $1 million and $2.5 million in assets.
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Brian Montopoli Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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