Gingrich Case Faces More Uncertainty - Jan. 3, 1996

Politicizing The Gingrich Ethics Case? - Jan. 2, 1996

Barbour Rips Democrats, Defends Gingrich

WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Jan. 3) -- Republican National Committee Chairman Haley Barbour today accused Democrats of "a raw partisan power play" in trying to derail Newt Gingrich's re-election as House speaker next week.(256K AIFF or WAV sound)

"It's not about ethics," Barbour told reporters. "This is about politics and control of the House."

At an afternoon news conference, Barbour said Democrats are trying to "snooker" Republicans by arguing GOP members should not vote for Gingrich for speaker until the current ethics investigation is complete, and then delaying the final outcome of that probe.

Barbour said it would be like him arguing that President Bill Clinton's inauguration should be delayed until investigations of corrupt Democratic campaign fund-raising are completed.

"The Democrats are trying to win by perversion of the ethics process that which they could not win at the ballot box -- control of the U.S. House of Representatives," Barbour declared.

"I believe the Democrats will fail, but I also believe very strongly that the public should know what's going on here," he said.

Democrats have tried to "demonize" Gingrich with multiple ethics complaints, but the speaker has not violated tax laws, Barbour said.

What Gingrich has admitted to, Barbour said, is that he erred in not seeking specialized tax advice when he created his televised college course and that he provided the ethics committee with inaccurate information that GOPAC, a political action committee Gingrich had once headed, was not involved in developing the course.(224K AIFF or WAV sound)

Barbour noted that Gingrich had previously told the committee in writing that GOPAC was involved in establishing the course.

"The findings against him are very insignificant," Barbour said.