Gingrich Wants to Close the Disclosure Gap with Romney

Reuters
Adam Martin 1,151 Views Jan 23, 2012

After giving ABC a miss on the Sunday talk shows after his South Carolina victory, Newt Gingrich appeared on Good Morning America Monday and said he wanted to release his lobbying contract with Freddie Mac. The candidate looks like he's trying to keep pace with opponent Mitt Romney, who said on Sunday he'd release his tax returns. But Gingrich said he couldn't simply release the records himself because they belong to Freddie Mac, so in a race for disclosure, Romney might win. Romney's been the one pushing for Gingrich to release the records of his Freddie Mac work, a call he renewed as he criticized Gingrich as a "failed leader" in Florida Sunday night. On Monday, Gingrich dinged Romney back, telling George Stephanopolous, "Here’s someone who has released none of his business records, who has decided to make a stand on transparency without being transparent."

Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House, also took the opportunity to paint himself as a "populist conservative" and a true Washington outsider, Politico reports. "I have no ties to Goldman Sachs, for example, the single biggest backer of Romney. I have no ties to the power structure," he said. Except for the fact that he was in office as a U.S. representative for 20 years, that's totally true.

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