Newt Gingrich

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) was having an extramarital affair while he led the charge against President Clinton over the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal, 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, according to a transcript provided to the Associated Press. The interview is to air today.

Newt Gingrich's admission of having an extramarital affair as he pursued President Clinton's impeachment in the Monica S. Lewinsky scandal has been defended by Republican presidential hopeful Rudolph W. Giuliani. Giuliani, during a campaign stop in Reno, told reporters that the episode shows no one is perfect, and that the former House speaker can learn from it.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Sunday urged Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales to resign, saying the "self-created mess" over the firings of eight U.S. attorneys last year had hampered his ability to do his job. "I cannot imagine how he is going to be effective for the rest of this administration," Gingrich said on "Fox News Sunday." "They're going to be involved in endless hearings, which is going to take up an immense amount of time and effort.

Three weeks ago, presidential hopeful-turned-documentary film star Al Gore brought some Oscar glamour to Capitol Hill as he testified about the perils of unchecked global warming, an issue gaining traction with both lawmakers and the public. On Tuesday, two other prominent politicians -- one a former presidential nominee, another toying with the idea of becoming one -- faced off before a packed house in an opulent Senate hearing room to discuss the same topic. During their two-hour debate, Sen.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told Liberty University's graduating class Saturday to honor the spirit of school founder Jerry Falwell by confronting "the growing culture of radical secularism" with Christian ideals. Gingrich, who is considering a 2008 presidential run, quoted Bible passages to a mournful crowd of about 17,000 packed into the university's football stadium four days after Falwell's death. Graduates who covered the football field chanted "Jerry! Jerry!" in tribute to Falwell.

Sen. John McCain brushed aside derogatory comments made by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who called the Republican presidential field a "pathetic" bunch of "pygmies." "I see the former member of the House of Representatives as a person who has many, many comments to make, and he's made many, many comments critical of me in the past," McCain (R-Ariz.) told reporters after attending a fundraiser in Grand Rapids. "We had a fundamental disagreement about the role of money in politics."

Re "Debates that say something," Opinion, Aug. 23 Never in a billion years would I have expected to be in such agreement with Newt Gingrich. His "Nine Nineties in Nine" proposal, while alliteratively strange, is not just sensible, it is imperative. Debates among presidential candidates are currently an embarrassment. At best, they are poor performance art.

atlanta -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) has given himself a deadline of Oct. 21 to raise $30 million for a possible presidential bid, saying the task is difficult but not impossible. "It is steep. This is like climbing Mt. Everest," Gingrich said Thursday. "It's improbable, but either there's a citizen desire for a citizen candidate, or there isn't." Gingrich said he would give his Atlanta-based political advisor, Randy Evans, until Oct. 21 to raise pledges of $30 million.

Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and conservative leader, said Saturday that he had decided not to seek the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. "Sometimes you have to decide what the right role is," he said in a telephone interview. "This is right for me."

Newt Gingrich, who led the Republican Party to congressional dominance a dozen years ago, told cheering conservatives it is time to overhaul a slow-moving government locked in the last century. Citing multiple government failures after Hurricane Katrina, the former House speaker said the government meltdown at all levels illustrated how badly government needed to be updated in all of its operations.