The Washington Post reports today that Newt Gingrich admitted in an interview with Pat RobertsonJames Dobson that he was having an affair with another woman during the Clinton impeachment scandal back in the late `90s:
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich was having an extramarital affair even as he led the charge against President Bill Clinton over the Monica S. 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 C. Dobson to be aired today, according to a transcript. “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 asserted in the interview, however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton’s infidelity.
He declared: “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.’ “
Frankly, I thought this was old news but it’s clear that Gingrich is bringing this up now as a way of testing the waters for a possible run for the White House in 2008. And, as James Joyner points out, it looks like this could be the kind of issue that disqualifies Gingrich regardless of his position on political issues.
At the same time, though, it’s clear that Gingrich isn’t alone in having a checkered past. Rudy Giuliani, the current Republican frontrunner, is twice divorced and was having an affair with his current wife while still married to Donna Hanover and serving as Mayor of New York. Heck, Ronald Reagan was divorced. On some level, expecting perfection in the personal lives of politicians is asking for the impossible.
Update: Fixed the title of the post so it makes sense now. That’s what you get for blogging before the caffeine kicks in.
March 9th, 2007 at 9:32 am
Gingrich Had Affair During Clinton Probe
The AP reports that Newt Gingrich was cheating on his wife while leading the impeachment against Bill Clinton for lying under oath about adultery. I had presumed everyone knew that several years ago but, judging by the attention it’s getting ar…
March 10th, 2007 at 7:25 am
The issue is hardly that he’s “clearing the air” - his past infidelities have long been known and took no one by surprise - rather the issue is that he was riding in on a moral high-horse to attack Clinton while he was actively engaging in the same indiscretions.
We all know that he was “officially” going after Clinton for perjury but we also all know that Clinton committed that act after his hand had been forced. At any rate, Gingrich’s outrage at Clinton’s extramarital affairs assumed innocence on his part and so Gingrich was also lying to the American people. Gingrich was not under oath, but I would submit that it doesn’t matter. He wanted to impeach Clinton for doing something that he himself was guilty of.
Expecting perfection in politicians is impossible but I can at least expect that my elected officials are not blatant hypocrites.