[RockinRight]

The only thing that makes Newt's consulting appear worse is that it was a lot more money. In reality, though, Newt was a private citizen at the time, and there is no evidence that he was a "lobbyist" despite the accusation.

[Brookhaven]

Newt’s payments need to put in context:

(1) At the time, Newt had been out of government for a while.

(2) Nobody in their right mind thought Newt would ever hold an elective office again.

(3) Newt’s political influence within the GOP has always been a glass-half-empty vs glass-half-full proposition. For every current GOP insider that likes Newt, there’s another GOP insider that can’t stand the guy.

If you were going to pay some guy to buy influence inside the GOP, Newt would be way down the list.

If I were a Freddie Mac shareholder, I wouldn’t be asking “why did you give THAT MUCH MONEY to Newt?”, I’d be asking “Why did you give that much money to NEWT?”

[org.whodat]

There is no evidence he was not a lobbyist either.