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Gingrich: Romney ‘getting richer off Freddie Mac’
Newt Gingrich on Tuesday previewed the next GOP debate by launching attacks on Mitt Romney’s past investments and debate style, as well as the format of the previous night’s debate.
Romney had several investments, worth as much as $500,000, in lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to new financial disclosure forms reported by multiple sources.
“We didn’t learn that until we left the debate last night,” Gingrich told conservative radio host Laura Ingraham of the investments. “I probably would have gotten in a good zinger on that.”
Gingrich had the “zinger” ready for a Fox News affiliate on Tuesday morning: “I would have said, ‘Mitt, you’re a stockholder. You’re getting richer off of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.’”
“They don’t pay people $25,000 for six years as historians,” Romney said Monday. “You were hired by the chief lobbyist of Freddie Mac.”
Gingrich released one year of his contract with Freddie Mac shortly before the debate. Other contracts were not released. His campaign said officials “can’t find” them, according to Bloomberg.
Gingrich told Ingraham, “I have no idea” about the missing contracts.
Romney’s campaign was quick to jump on the omission, accusing Gingrich of playing a “shell game with the truth.”
“Newt Gingrich’s Freddie Mac contract raises more questions than answers,” Romney Communications Director Gail Gitcho said in a statement. “His secrecy about his lobbying for Freddie Mac is troubling. No amount of bluster will hide the fact that Newt had his hand in Freddie Mac to the tune of $25,000 a month. The bursting housing bubble helped lead to the current economic crisis and Newt Gingrich has his fingerprints all over it.”
Although Romney released his 2010 income tax returns Tuesday, following pressure from Gingrich among others, Gingrich had already moved on to questioning what else Romney has hesitated to disclose.
“Romney has not released any contracts of any kind regarding any consulting that he did,” Gingrich said.
Gingrich said for the most part he was satisfied with Monday night’s debate.
“The only point I wanted to make last night was that [Romney] was dishonest,” he said. But in several interviews Tuesday morning he offered his criticism of the way NBC News handled the debate, saying it should not have instructed the crowd not to applaud.
“This was Romney’s night to be desperate,” Gingrich said. He went on to bring up Romney’s “new debate coach” several times. Brett O’Donnell, who previously worked on Michele Bachmann’s and John McCain’s presidential campaigns, became a visible presence on Romney’s campaign, helping with debate preparation this week, according to The New York Times.
“His new attack debate coach had taught him to say things in rapid-fire to set up the stage,” Gingrich said. He went on to suggest that he would handle Thursday night’s GOP debate a little differently, adding that he bases his strategy on the “mood” of the room.
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