"Sid9" <sid9@
bellsouth.net> wrote in message
news:jb93g2$sg4$1...@dont-email.me...
>
> $300,000.00 fine...paid for...not by him but from donated campaign funds
>
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Newt Gingrich Cleared by IRS !
Now How About a Refund?
By Carolyn Gargaro
February 16, 1999
Newt Gingrich has been cleared!!
Remember the uproar regarding Newt's "ethics violations?" People can refresh
their memory by reading an article I wrote in 1997 about these charges. In
brief, David Bonior brought 75 ethics charges against Newt, 74 which were
found to have no merit whatsoever (and people say that Ken Starr is on a
"witch hunt?"). The last charge, whether Newt funded his college class
"Renewing American Civilization" properly, was too complicated a tax issue
for the committee to investigate on its own, so they brought in an outside
tax expert to investigate. Two charges arose out of this investigation.
The first 'charge' from the ethics committee is that he "may have" violated
tax law by using tax-deductible contributions from nonprofit organizations
to teach an allegedly partisan college course.
The second 'charge' from the committee is that, in the course of the
investigation, Newt provided false information to the committee. And what
was this "false information?" Newt testified that the above contributions
were in fact made by those organizations to "Renewing American
Civilization." He filed papers that stated the very same thing. This is
never a fact that anyone was trying to hide. But one paper filed with the
committee stated that those groups did not make the contributions. For this,
there was an uproar about Newt's ethics, and he was fined.
Basically, Newt was fined $300,000 because he didn't read his lawyers'
documents carefully. I could really get into the hypocrisy of this in light
of the fact that people want to excuse Bill Clinton for lying under oath,
(maybe if the course Newt had taught was about SEX the Democrats would feel
differently) but that's not the point of this article.
Well, after a 3.5 year probe, after Newt paid the $300,000 fine, the IRS
announced on February 3, 1999, that it found NO IMPROPRIETIES IN THE TAX
FILINGS of Gingrich and the sponsoring Progress and Freedom Foundation. The
IRS said the principles taught in the course were not of use only in
political campaigns. "The ... course taught principles from American
civilization that could be used by each American in everyday life whether
the person is a welfare recipient, the head of a large corporation, or a
politician."
Well isn't that nice - and isn't that what Newt had been saying all along?
In other words, the ethics charges David Bonior filed against Newt were ALL
bogus. Every single one of them. In the end, what was Newt's "ethics
problems"? One of the papers filed by his lawyers had an error and Newt
didn't catch it. That little oversight cost $300,000.
Some might say "vindication is vindication" and Newt should just be tickled
about this. . . but would YOU feel better if you've already lost $300,000
and your job in the process?
Where are the cries about how long and how much money was spent on this
investigation? Where are all the news stories about this vindication?
Granted, there have been some news stories but certainly not that many.
Perhaps the news isn't quite as big when it's Newt who is the one in the
right and his accusers are the ones in the wrong.
Now, if some people already see the irony of Newt being blasted for "lying
to congress" because one of his lawyers' documents was in error while people
argue that we should ignore that fact that Bill Clinton lied under oath,
here's a little more irony for you.
Democrats have argued over and over again that even if Clinton DID lie in
his deposition in Paula Jones' sexual harassment suit, it doesn't matter
because the suit was eventually thrown out of court. Thus, any lies were
"not material" and so not valid grounds for punishment, and certainly not
impeachment. Well, the IRS has found that there were NO IMPROPRIETIES IN THE
TAX FILINGS. Using the same rationale as Clinton's supporters, shouldn't
Newt Gingrich be allowed to get his $300,000 back, since any misstatements
he might have made are now "not material?"
David Bonior stated a couple of years ago that "Mr. Gingrich engaged in a
pattern of tax fraud." Well, it now looks as if Bonior was way out in left
field on all 75 of his accusations. How about a censure of David Bonior for
filing 7 unfounded charges against him, so Newt can at least get his good
name back? But how could I forget? We are in the age of forgiveness, where
we just "forgive and forget" perjury and obstruction of justice, so I guess
that means forgiving David Bonior too. Too bad people weren't as "forgiving"
when it was Newt Gingrich in the hot seat.