There are all kinds of reasons it’s a problem that Newt Gingrich made between $1.6 million and $1.8 million in consulting fees from Freddie Mac. For one thing, he’s based much of his campaign rhetoric lately on his disdain for the mortgage giant. For another, it suggests Gingrich lied about the nature of his work.
For that matter, it’s a reminder that after Gingrich was forced by his own party to resign from Congress in disgrace, he played a tired Beltway game — he leveraged his notoriety to make a lot of money in the lobbying/consulting racket.
But David Kurtz adds yet another wrinkle this morning.
In his unfailing piety, Newt Gingrich in 2008, fresh off his paid gig for Freddie Mac, went on Fox News and counseled John McCain to demand that Obama “give back all the money that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae gave to you.”
Then a week later he urged John McCain to exploit “the close ties Chris Dodd, Barack Obama and Barney Frank have to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”
I guess the next question for the top-tier Republican presidential candidate is, “When will Gingrich give back the money?”
Update: Newt also told Fox News in September he wanted to see investigations into politicians with “ties” to Freddie Mac. Oops.
