Gingrich Had Affair During Clinton Probe

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair, he acknowledged in an interview with a conservative Christian group.

"The honest answer is yes," Gingrich, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson to be aired Friday, according to a transcript provided to The Associated Press. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards."

Gingrich argued in the interview, however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity.

"The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," the former Georgia congressman said of Clinton's 1998 House impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. "I drew a line in my mind that said, 'Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept ... perjury in your highest officials."

Widely considered a mastermind of the Republican revolution that swept Congress in the 1994 elections, Gingrich remains wildly popular among many conservatives. He has repeatedly placed near the top of Republican presidential polls recently, even though he has not formed a campaign.

Gingrich has said he is waiting to see how the Republican field shapes up before deciding in the fall whether to run.

Gingrich joins some other prominent White House aspirants who have been trying to off-load some baggage, reports CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod.

Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., has had to explain her cheating husband. For Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., it's everything from unpaid parking tickets to drug use.

Republican Rudy Giuliani is addressing a rift with his son after the former New York City mayor's ugly divorce.

Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster, tells Axelrod that in the post-Bill Clinton era, voters assume their candidates have done something they're not proud of. So, it's not what they've done, but how they explain it.

Reports of extramarital affairs have dogged Gingrich for years as a result of two messy divorces, but he has refused to discuss them publicly.

Gingrich, who frequently campaigned on family values issues, divorced his second wife, Marianne, in 2000 after his attorneys acknowledged Gingrich's relationship with his current wife, Callista Bisek, a former congressional aide more than 20 years younger than he is.

His first marriage, to his former high school geometry teacher, Jackie Battley, ended in divorce in 1981. Although Gingrich has said he doesn't remember it, Battley has said Gingrich discussed divorce terms with her while she was recuperating in the hospital from cancer surgery.

Gingrich married Marianne months after the divorce.

"There were times when I was praying and when I felt I was doing things that were wrong. But I was still doing them," he said in the interview. "I look back on those as periods of weakness and periods that I'm ... not proud of."

Gingrich's congressional career ended in 1998 when he abruptly resigned from Congress after poor showings from Republicans in elections and after being reprimanded by the House ethics panel over charges that he used tax-exempt funding to advance his political goals.

[nolapearl]

I guess he doesn't consider "cheating" as lying. what a dope.

[wheresmycountry]

Republicans need to re-brand themselves. They come off as silly when they claim to have the moral high ground in this country. I am not religious, and don't pretend to be moral, but I would never cheat.

[proudmilvet]

Newt Gingrich is a Lying,Hypocritical,piece of S**T! I would rather see the U.S. go Communist then to see this Bas**rd as President! I don't mind someone having differences over Political issues but this guy is a Chickenhawk & a Hypocrit !

[confused2byu]

Conservative Motto - "Do as I say not as I do."

[jummpstart]

Newt Gingrich is a total hypocrite.

Maybe some of you don't know the two-faced man. He sat on the impeachment council to impeach President Clinton. The self-righteous gentleman asked his wife for a divorce while she was in the hospital. Let alone throwing stones at Clinton for his affair when he was having one of his own at the same time. Now HE's B A C K! Hoping that some of you are too young to remember what he is like. A lot of men cheat but ask for a divorce while his wife's in the hospital so he can saunter off with his mistress? I REMEMBER and you should too. He is good at presenting other people's mis steps as with Nancy Pelosi. (If there is one) He's probably having an affair on this woman now--you know the staffer who helped him destroy his first marriage. BEWARE OF NEWT GINGRICH what you see and hear is not real.

[bm6005]

With regards to the role Ivy League professors play in the survival of civilization; be thankful they exist because if not for them we would surely fall off the precipitous edge into the abyss of totalitarianism, despotism, and authoritarianism.
SHURCH4TRUTH

BS say I. In all the years I've worked, gone to college, any of my adventures, I've always been disappointed in the so-called intelligentsia. I find that they typically have nothing but theory, no real world experience, etc. When I rag on college profs I rag on all parts of the spectrum, from Left to Right. Wolfowitz, Hadley, Perle, Feith, Kristal, Gingrich, Armey have no military experience yet we've allowed them to set policy on going to war. I wouldn't want Angela Davis to do it either, but for now I'm working on the sins of the NEOCON SOB's. These stupid *** have popped the genie (middle east) out of the bottle and do not know how to get it back in. Personally, I believe it's too late. We missed our opportunity immediately after reaching Bahgdad and allowing it to go to hell. These college profs are moron's! When The upper echelons of the military wanted overwhelming force these moron's said the military was wrong. Well I was in the Army and I have no love for the officer core but they have the training Wolfie couldn't pour **** from a boot with the instructions stamped on the heel!!

[jolsonbear]

Jerry Falwell (AKA Mama Cass when in Drag) is Married to a man. Why won't he let the rest of us.

[frb01]

I don't know what the latest stats are in terms of marraiges ending in divorce, but I believe there are a lot of Americans that have been in this boat. Doesn't make it right but let those without sin cast the first vote. If the Christian movement and Conservative movement are so desperate for a candidate that they have to rally around Newt, they have far bigger problems. Although I vote more often on the Republican side, the four Democrats Hillary, Obama, Edwards or Richardson seem like they could all be the winner in 2008. In the end it may not matter.

[pared1]

I'm still having a problem believing any woman would sleep with this man. Even street ladies would decline. LOL

[gramto7]

My apologies for the error and for the unkind things I said defending the erroneous info.
Posted by US_Infidel

Thank you so much for letting us know you are human. Sometimes I wonder about smoe of the bloggers here... ;-/