Leapfrogging ahead to Nevada, which holds its presidential caucuses on Feb. 4, Mitt Romney's campaign is running an ad that tries to link Newt Gingrich to the housing foreclosure crisis through his work for federal mortgage agency Freddie Mac. Nevada has the nation's highest foreclosure rate. Florida, where a version of this ad is also running and which holds its primary Tuesday, is in the top 10.
This ad stops short of saying Gingrich lobbied for Freddie Mac — which he says he did not — but it does imply that Gingrich supported the federally backed mortgage agency's making subprime loans while he served as a consultant to it. Gingrich also denies that claim. Freddie Mac was certainly a participant in the subprime mortgage business, but to say it "created" the housing crisis ignores the role of private mortgage lenders and is the subject of debate.
A bigger stretch is the ad's attempt to link Gingrich's resignation from Congress, which was announced in November 1998 and effective Jan. 3, 1999, to his 1997 reprimand and fine for ethics violations. Gingrich resigned because his party lost House seats in the 1998 midterm elections and he was being challenged for the speakership. His departure was described at the time as a sudden and stunning exit in the face of rebellion among his colleagues rather than a disgrace.
Read the rest of the article at USA Today
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