Posted on 03/08/2007 10:53:12 PM PST by Luis Gonzalez
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich acknowledged he 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.
Reports of extramarital affairs have dogged him 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
No comment.
It was just sex. No big deal.
You've blown this all out of proportion.
This is nothing but a witch hunt. A vast left-wing conspiracy.
Etc. etc. ad nauseam.
But he didn't.
He's not perfect. None of us are.
Some of us may think they are, but they're not.
You summed it up perfectly.
WHAT?
I think you got that WRONG. His ex wife paid. He got to enjoy the fruits of his affair, instead of doing the hard work of reconciling with his wife and putting the affair behind him.
I know of more than a couple of marriages where one partner has cheated, and gone on to repent and restore his marriage.
The charges in the Clinton impeachment were NOT about having an affair.
The charges in the Clinton impeachment were PERJURY and OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE.
Scooter Libby did not get convicted this week for revealing Valerie Plame's CIA connection. Libby was convicted for lying under oath and obstructing justice ......... The exact same things that Clinton did at the deposition in the Paula Jones lawsuit.
If Newt Gingrich had sexually harassed another woman, had been sued by that other woman and had lied during deposition, under oath, about his affair, then the situations between Gingrich and Clinton would have been analogous.
The author of this article knows all this but the agenda of the liberal news media is to indoctrinate the reader with a political agenda and not to educate him with historical facts.
You know...all of the judgemental attitudes are hypocritical.
Let's look at Bible heroes and I do mean that they were heroes, though flawed human beings.
David: Adulterer and Murderer
Peter: Lied three times, after pledging his undying devotion the previous day.
Moses: Murderer
I could go on...but these men were not just Biblical heroes, they were LEADERS, annointed by God.
If you think that because Newt had a moral failing that he is unfit to lead...you better take another look at the Bible.
The search function on FR is a joke. Something might come up or it might not.
Yeah, he led the "charge against Clinton" for committing perjury, not cheating on Hillary.
This thread seems to have a great many 'stonethrowers'! I give Newt great credit for honesty about his quest for love and his sin of failure to be truthful to his two wives, which he appears to be openly repentant about. Of course I believe he has great leadership to offer us if we are wise enough to seek it. His Border Control position posted 3/7 is brilliantly argued, for example.
I rather enjoy the Guiliani supporters hypocracy in this thread. Sure, let's elect a pro-partial-birth abortion, pro-gun control, pro gay marriage New York liberal who cheated on his wife about 10 years ago rather than a true-blue proven conservative who has led one of the two great conservative movements since FDR who cheated on his wife about 10 years ago.
"look at the NYC source of the article.
We have NYC news distributors circling waggons to defend their NYC liberal candiates.
AP/Yahoo
all routed through NYC"
Spin it all you want, but the plain fact is that Newt wanted this out now so he "confessed" to Dobson. He knew it would be picked up by AP and others and he wanted it to be. This is NOT an MSM plot.
Did Newt lie to a Federal Grand Jury?
Did NEWT look the American people in the eye and LIE?
And finally was NEWT accused of RAPE?
Oh, so you subscribe to the theory that since everybody knows that the left is all trash without morals, they can do whatever they like, but if a Republican does it he's a hypocrite. Hypocracy, by the way, is the only sin the left recognizes.
My main point was that I will NEVER vote for Rudy because he's a liberal and quite possibly a tyrant in the making. Newt may have no chance, but I'd be a heck of a lot more inclined to support him than Dolph.
Newt is NOT a candy bar. He's meat and potatoes, and maybe vegetables that don't taste so good but you know make you healthy. He would do the right things, and he has the brains and experience to make them happen, i.e. connect with the murrickin pipple and congresscritters.
Look, if Newt isn't available I may not vote at all. I'm not at all sure I can support any of the horses currently in the field.
ping
He is too a candy bar. So there.
Sheesh.
"Now I don't know all of what Newt said to Dobson but this is one of those rare instances where the MSM is actually using the word "perjury" to describe what Clinton was really on trial for. Too many people in this country believe that Clinton's impeachment hearing arose because of his affair alone -- as if having an affair was a crime. The MSM has never tried to correct this misperception...hell, I think they were actively trying to create the misperception before and during the hearing."
Here is the actual wording of the two articles of impeachment, decide for yourself what Clinton was impeached for:
Article I
In his conduct while President of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has willfully corrupted and manipulated the judicial process of the United States for his personal gain and exoneration, impeding the administra tion of justice, in that:
On August 17, 1998, William Jefferson Clinton swore to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth before a Federal grand jury of the United States. Contrary to that oath, William Jefferson Clinton willfully provided perjurious, false and misleading testimony to the grand jury concerning one or more of the following:
(1) the nature and details of his relationship with a subordinate Government employee;
(2) prior perjurious, false and misleading testimony he gave in a Federal civil rights action brought against him;
(3) prior false and misleading statements he allowed his attorney to make to a Federal judge in that civil rights action; and
(4) his corrupt efforts to influence the testimony of witnesses and to impede the discovery of evidence in that civil rights action.
In doing this, William Jefferson Clinton has undermined the integrity of his office, has brought disrepute on the Presidency, has betrayed his trust as President, and has acted in a manner subversive of the rule of law and justice, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
Wherefore, William Jefferson Clinton, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.
Article III
In his conduct while President of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton, in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States and, to the best of his ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and in violation of his constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, has prevented, obstructed, and impeded the administration of justice, and has to that end engaged personally, and through his subordinates and agents, in a course of conduct or scheme designed to delay, impede, cover up, and conceal the existence of evidence and testimony related to a Federal civil rights action brought against him in a duly instituted judicial proceeding.
The means used to implement this course of conduct or scheme included one or more of the following acts:
(1) On or about December 17, 1997, William Jefferson Clinton corruptly encouraged a witness in a Federal civil rights action brought against him to execute a sworn affidavit in that proceeding that he knew to be perjurious, false and misleading.
(2) On or about December 17, 1997, William Jefferson Clinton corruptly encouraged a witness in a Federal civil rights action brought against him to give perjurious, false and misleading testimony if and when called to testify personally in that proceeding.
(3) On or about December 28, 1997, William Jefferson Clinton corruptly engaged in, encouraged, or supported a scheme to conceal evidence that had been subpoenaed in a Federal civil rights action brought against him.
(4) Beginning on or about December 7, 1997, and continuing through and including January 14, 1998, William Jefferson Clinton intensified and succeeded in an effort to secure job assistance to a witness in a Federal civil rights action brought against him in order to corruptly prevent the truthful testimony of that witness in that proceeding at a time when the truthful testimony of that witness would have been harmful to him.
(5) On January 17, 1998, at his deposition in a Federal civil rights action brought against him, William Jefferson Clinton corruptly allowed his attorney to make false and misleading statements to a Federal judge characterizing an affidavit, in order to prevent questioning deemed relevant by the judge. Such false and misleading statements were subsequently acknowledged by his attorney in a communication to that judge.
(6) On or about January 18 and January 20-21, 1998, William Jefferson Clinton related a false and misleading account of events relevant to a Federal civil rights action brought against him to a potential witness in that proceeding, in order to corruptly influence the testimony of that witness.
(7) On or about January 21, 23 and 26, 1998, William Jefferson Clinton made false and misleading statements to potential witnesses in a Federal grand jury proceeding in order to corruptly influence the testimony of those witnesses. The false and misleading statements made by William Jefferson Clinton were repeated by the witnesses to the grand jury, causing the grand jury to receive false and misleading information.
In all of this, William Jefferson Clinton has undermined the integrity of his office, has brought disrepute on the Presidency, has betrayed his trust as President, and has acted in a manner subversive of the rule of law and justice, to the manifest injury of the people of the United States.
Wherefore, William Jefferson Clinton, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial, and removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States.
Articles II and IV were rejected by the House of Representatives, only I and III went forward to the Senate.
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