This concession was doubtless meant by Newt as a Christian gesture (he was a Baptist of unknown sincerity at that point) but I’m not sure who suggested it, Newt or the witch hunters.
Knowing DC as we do, it may have been a truce offering by either side, “Pay this and we’ll leave you alone”. Of course it has been spun to something else entirely, i.e. a fine. I hate the press and I hate liberals.