Pelosi: My Gingrich intel dump would be legal

By: Lucy Madison
Topics: Campaign 2012

(Credit: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi clarified Monday that the "conversation" she wants to have about her knowledge of Newt Gingrich's past will be based on information already in the public record - not anything confidential she learned while investigating the former House Speaker during a year-long ethics investigation into his actions.

In a recent interview with Talking Points Memo, Pelosi said she knows "a lot" about Gingrich because of the year she spent investigating him.

"One of these days we'll have a conversation about Newt Gingrich," Pelosi told TPM. "I know a lot about him. I served on the investigative committee that investigated him, four of us locked in a room in an undisclosed location for a year. A thousand pages of his stuff."

In a statement Monday, Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hammill told Hotsheet the minority leader was "clearly referring to the extensive amount of information that is in the public record," when she made the statement - "including the comprehensive committee report with which the public may not be fully aware."

Earlier on Monday, Gingrich lambasted Pelosi for her initial remarks and thanked her for "what I regard as an early Christmas gift."

"If she's suggesting she's going to use material that she developed when she was in the ethics committee - that is a fundamental violation of the rules of the House and would I hope that members would immediately file charges against her the second she does," Gingrich said. "And I think what she said to you today should explain a great deal about what happened in the ethics process when Nancy Pelosi was at the heart of it and is now prepared to totally abuse the House process."

Gingrich also cited Pelosi's inclusion on the four-person committee - which in the late 1990s looked into 84 counts of ethical wrongdoing against Gingrich, and ultimately voted to reprimand and fine him for wrongdoing involving breaches of tax law and making misrepresentations to Congress - as evidence that it was "capriciously political."

"I think it tells you how capriciously political that committee was, that she was on it," Gingrich told reporters. "It tells you how tainted the outcome was, that she was on it. And I think what she said to you today should explain a great deal about what happened in the ethics process when Nancy Pelosi was at the heart of it and is now prepared to totally abuse the House process."

Lucy Madison
Lucy Madison is a political reporter for CBSNews.com.
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by fedup12 December 8, 2011 11:07 PM EST: It was all ethics violations. We deserve to know what kind of man we may elect to president.

Just like we deserved to know about the stains on Monica's dress.

I wonder what Newt is hiding.; Reply to this comment


by OCJimR December 8, 2011 2:07 PM EST: Well Nancy, if it's public record, who really cares that you know about it.; Reply to this comment


by Heathergreeneyes December 7, 2011 7:56 PM EST: Well it seems Pelosi must not be very confident that democrats can run on their record! She has to immedietely go to smear campaigning!; Reply to this comment

by PaulKemme December 7, 2011 3:55 PM EST

I like Newt Gingrich! Newt is intelligent, well thought out, a good academic, a good debater, and he has experience. Is he perfect? No, but I don't know anyone who is. Newt Gingrich had only one alleged "ethics violation", and a subsequent IRS ruling essentially CLEARED him on that one. Newt knows Washington, and won't need "on the job training". Newt is a "real" candidate and is not "manufactured" meaning that he hasn't had his whole history hidden, and then re manufactured through his books as the current president. Before you judge Newt, visit his website and watch some of his speeches; he's a wonderful orator! Newt Gingrich has my vote of confidence!See Newt Gingrich at his best here:
http://youtu.be/SQxturElvxI
I.R.S. Clears Foundation Linked to Gingrich's Ethics Dispute(1999):
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/04/us/irs-clears-foundation-linked-to-gingrich-s-ethics-dispute.html

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by USSAmerikan December 9, 2011 11:44 AM EST: Newt's "Ethics Violation" charges: Democrat reprisals for getting Clinton impeached. They tried in more than 80 different ways until one finally stuck: The sin? Something related to a class he taught at a college... Yes, he was cleared by the same Clinton administration. Newt is a member of the cadre of Republicans and fiscally conservative Democrats in Congress who remember the secret sauce that achieves 4% unemployment... Sounds like a fairy tale now, doesn't it?


by LeighleeBo January 25, 2012 9:07 AM EST: I like Newt too. I like what he says. Never heard Nancy say anything I like. I have to wonder who she thinks she is.


by phatandphoolish December 7, 2011 12:25 PM EST: the republicans are pathetic and stupid - all their lies and deceit are crumbling in on them... and good riddance. look at what these morons have done and are doing to our country. if you're still believing their lies, you should at least open your eyes and take a look around.; Reply to this comment


by satin_lingerie December 7, 2011 11:56 AM EST: Seems like a good idea to me.; Reply to this comment

by alanrobisch December 6, 2011 7:28 PM EST

nancy pelosi hates newt gingrich and what she said without thinking that she was willing to break the rules of the house by revealing information discovered by house ethics investigation. she is one of the mosre despised political figures in America. You can see why.

Fascinating that this has degraded into an excuse to attack Newt Gingrich. I will readily acknowledge his baggage but Nancy P though not proven has been accused with significant evidence of her own unethical actions.
It is much like the pot calling the kettle black. BTW the beloved Barney Frank actually had a male prostitution ring run from his home yet was not censored and reelected

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by ruffiannd December 7, 2011 7:39 AM EST: What is it with you Tbaggers and your refusal to punctuate or capitalize? Good lord.

by jmhubers December 6, 2011 7:23 PM EST

Cain was dumped when inconvenient truths about him began to leak out. Gingrich will be next, as he's got a lot more skeletons in his personal and political closet. He's slick, but not that slick.

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by ruffiannd December 7, 2011 7:34 AM EST: The GOP is no more. The party of your grandfather now has the Tbaggers calling the shots, and they want the Newtster. This is all fine and dandy with the white house. Even though Newt could very well get the nomination, he can never win in a general election. The Tbaggers are too stupid to figure this out though, and it will take another 2 or 3 election cycles for them to present a normal person as candidate. So relax everyone.

by ammo17 December 6, 2011 5:33 PM EST

for some reason gingrich reminds me of the republican version of barney frank.he is owned by lobbyist and he just gives me some bad vibes.and i will never vote democrat again.

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by YetAnotherCommentator December 6, 2011 7:03 PM EST: Obama also accepted lobbying money.

by billgates0001 December 6, 2011 4:44 PM EST

This lady never ceases to amaze me. Needless to say, my amazement quickly turns into repugnance. I could live a 100 years and I still remember Pelosi denying vote to projects of truly authentic democracy nature, because according to her, "the project is not democratic enough" ***? Are you a godness Ms. Pelosi?

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