"Baloney?" Gingrich suggests illegal PAC collusion

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: Campaign 2012

(Credit: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Newt Gingrich, who has been stung by attack ads from so-called "super PACs" supporting his rivals, yesterday asked his supporters to tell their friends to tell the candidates whose backers have been running such ads "they ought to be ashamed of themselves."

"They ought to take this junk off the air," he said. "And don't hide behind some baloney about this super PAC that I actually have no control over that happens to be run by five of my former staff. That's just baloney." Super PACs are legally prohibited from coordinating with campaigns.

Less than 24 hours after Gingrich claimed that legal divide is "baloney" in light of staffing connections, a newly-formed pro-Gingrich super PAC called "Winning our Future" announced the hiring of a former Gingrich staffer. Rick Tyler, a longtime Gingrich aide who resigned from the Gingrich campaign when his campaign imploded over the summer, has joined the group as a senior advisor.

Tyler is not the only former staffer with Winning Our Future: It's led by Becky Burkett, a onetime official with a now-defunct group called "American Solutions for Winning the Future" that Gingrich founded after leaving Congress.

In light of Gingrich's comments, CBS News Political Hotsheet asked the Gingrich campaign if the former House speaker is controlling "Winning our Future," something that would be a violation of the law. Spokesman R.C. Hammond responded,"Let me know if Winning our Future launches 1.4 million dollars in negative advertising."

Super PACs can accept unlimited contributions to advertize and advocate on behalf of a candidate - without revealing their donors - and they are expected to have a significant impact on a presidential race. Hammond's reference was to spending by a pro-Mitt Romney super PAC, which is blanketing the airwaves in Iowa with spots asking if Gingrich has too much "baggage" to defeat President Obama. The spots may have contributed to a stall in the former House speaker's momentum in the first-in-the-nation voting state. (Romney calls the campaign finance situation that allows for super PACs a "disaster," even as he benefits from them.)

Winning our Future is one of two super PACs backing the candidate; yesterday it released a video in support of the candidate in which a narrator said Gingrich believes America's "best days are ahead." The Gingrich campaign put out an ad earlier this month that opening with Gingrich saying, "Some people say the America we know and love is a thing of the past. I don't believe that."

Earlier this month, Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission after identical TV footage appeared in two ads in support of Rick Perry - one from the Perry campaign and another from a super PAC backing him.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
Follow on Twitter »

4 Comments +

Add a Comment


by Tired2012 December 23, 2011 7:46 PM EST: This NewtPAC "winning out future" has been robocalling the house twice a day with the same survey over and over. This does not seem ethical to stack up votes by calling over and over. We will not vote for Newt and if I can find a way I will tell them this is part of the reason why. Take my name off of the call list!!!; Reply to this comment


by Ben37221 December 20, 2011 9:10 PM EST: Thanks to the supreme court for citizens united. They should be ashame of themselves. What a terrible ruling-Now the gene is out of the bottle.
This coming election is going to be arguable one of the worst elections in human history-it is not going to be a decision by the people, rather a decision by the corperation to steal/buy the election. They do have a partner in the supreme court for such a terrible outcome.
Imaging an election where the primary purpose is not to inform, but to distort. That is what the republicans have always done in the past. Now amplify that by 1000. The electorates are not going to be informed, they are going to be decived. Hope the supreme court are enjoying what they have created-we are now in an era of corperation buying the elections and the politician, thus living the people unrepresented.; Reply to this comment


by kansas1946 December 20, 2011 3:52 PM EST: I think the only thing that is "baloney" is Newt. How anyone seriously could even look at this guy for president is beyond me.; Reply to this comment


by obwan222 December 20, 2011 3:01 PM EST: ["When you get ready to vote in 2 weeks ask yourself, do you really want to reward politics as usual, negativity as usual, attack as usual, consultants as usual, fundraising from Wall Street fundraising as usual," Gingrich asked.]

"They ought to take this junk off the air," he said. "And don't hide behind some baloney about this super PAC that I actually have no control over that happens to be run by five of my former staff. That's just baloney."

"If they run into one of these candidates, tell them they ought to be ashamed of themselves," Gingrich said.

==========

Yeah, right. Gingrich is shocked - shocked - to find that politicians are attacking their opponents. Is he ashamed of the venom he has spewed at his opponents over the years?

So let's get this straight.

- Newt is not going to use negative ads.

- Newt is not going to allow his PACs to use negative ads.

- Newt is not going to accept money from Wall Street.

- Newt is not going to allow his PACs to accept money from WS.

But now he's on the record - let's see how long his fake outrage at such tactics last.

Oh, wait, he's already broken his own rule about "going negative"...

Is he ashamed of saying of the Occupy Movement, "Go get a job right after you take a bath."

Is he ashamed of saying that, "Really poor children in really poor neighborhoods have no habits of working and have nobody around them who works."

Is he ashamed of saying of Sotomayor that, "Latina woman racist should also withdraw [from nomination]."

-------------

Or maybe he's only against "going negative" against fellow Republicans, nope, he's okay with that too...

Is he ashamed of saying that Romney made his fortune "bankrupting companies and laying off employees".

Is he ashamed of saying that RNC members "...all think they're precious, and they all think they should be taken care of, and they all think the job of the chairman, first of all, is to make the RNC members happy."

Is he ashamed of saying that Paul Ryan's plan is "right-wing social engineering".

---------

It seems that Gingrich is only against "going negative" when he is the target of the ads. Otherwise, he's just fine with attacking people. But when it comes to him, well, it's "can't we all just get along".; Reply to this comment