Posted on 03/08/2007 7:02:04 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - 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 political goals.
You gross under estimate the duplicitous media whoredom aligned to usher hillary rodham-rodent into the white whorehouse if you think clinton's history mollifies Gingrich's affair.
Why do you continue to call him "my president"? You know nothing about me. I wasn't even old enough to vote when he was first elected, that hardly makes him "mine". You are rapidly losing credibility, and yes I am laughing at you. ;^)
Until he got caught he did.
I just have to chuckle. We talk about our candidates having " baggage", as if Hillary doesn't.
Could it be we know that we have let ourselves be set up for this?
We know the MSMs will only make hay out of GOP baggage.
Um, yes. Tired fingers.
The laugh of a fool has no ring to it.
I wonder if he's in that DC's madam's little black book.
Dear Darkwolf377,
"I'm sure those who castigate Rudy for his marital issues will come down just as hard on Newt."
Nah... Newt's not running for president.
Thus, he's just a run-of-the-mill pig.
A pig that I like, but a pig, nonetheless.
He certainly seems to be close to Mr. Giuliani's level of pigishness. He was apparently running around on wife #1 while still married to her, apparently with wife #2, even with two children at home. It's alleged he refused to pay child support or alimony. I find these two allegations difficult to believe, as usually it's a court that gets the say in these things.
But if all that is true, then that approximates Mr. Giuliani's pigishness when he informed his second wife via press conference of their impending divorce, and then tried to force her out of the marital home so that he could install his floozy.
Yep, both pigs.
I wonder, though, whether Mr. Gingrich forced his slut - the second wife - on his kid's, and said he wouldn't attend his kid's special events without the slut.
That would truly make Mr. Gingrich the equal of Mr. Giuliani, not that he's any prize in the alternative.
sitetest
ummm.... So ? Clinton was doing interns in the oval office, and lying about it under oath while selling US secrets to chinese and covering up the rapes he committed...
This article is unbelieveable- they are making the point that Newt is bad for having an affair while clintoon was having an affair?
And just who is that Canadian babe the bent one is hangin around with while
I think the democraps are picking on newt because they realize he is the strongest candidate if he tosses his hat in.
I consider it a major problem for both. And it annoys me a lot because I consider both of them otherwise worthy for the presidency, but their moral problems make them basically not qualified. Yet, when measured up against everyone else running, I might have to vote for one of them. At this point, if he is still running when I vote in the primary, I will vote for Duncan Hunter. Should he not be running and Fred Thompson has not joined the fray, then I have a much more difficult decision to make. McCain is unstable. Romney changes colors more than a chameleon which makes him lack character. So we're down to Guiliani and Ginrich IF Hunter isn't in (I hope he wins the nomination). Both are good on national defense. Gingrich at least is pro-life and holds other family values, even if he has not practiced them. So it narrows down to Newt. But he will still be damaged goods. Too bad.
Dear Darkwolf377,
" No more comments about mistresses, divorces, private sex lives..."
I disagree. I believe that it's appropriate stuff to be discussed about potential candidates.
I've certainly criticized Mr. Giuliani for his execrable behavior, and Mr. Gingrich is deserving of similar criticism.
It's an insight into their personal characters, and it isn't pretty. It's an important question in considering presidential candidates.
sitetest
Dear JCEccles,
"She is suffering from MS and his faithfulness to her and their children has never wavered."
For this, he is a man that I deeply admire.
Might not vote for him for president, but in this, he has been a real man.
sitetest
Exactly, one would expect the freakin' leader of the Free World to do a little better than that. He was no Jack Kennedy, that's for sure.
I'm sure those who castigate Rudy for his marital issues will come down just as hard on Newt.
Don't count on it! For me... it just makes me really want Rudy to Win in 08!
He only lied to his wife, so he would never lie to us. Banging his secretary disqualifies him as President. He made his choice and it was a wrong one. And yes I have the same problem with Rudy.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Oh yes it does!
Is this what you intended to say? If so, I believe you're mistaken. The woman he's currently married to is his third wife, correct?
Are you SURE??? Are you telling me his marital record is equivalent ot Giuliani's??
Barf.
Another Republican playing to the Oprah crowd.
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