PRESS RELEASES from Newt 2012
January 23, 2012

Fact Sheet: Gingrich Group and Freddie Mac


  1. Newt Gingrich welcomes scrutiny of his record in public office and as a small businessman.  Newt believes that properly vetting the potential next president is absolutely necessary.  That is why he asked his former company to release a copy of their contract with Freddie Mac, which can be viewed on their website here.

  2. Newt has never lobbied for Freddie Mac, or any client, nor has anyone in any of the organizations he founded after leaving office as part of their work with them.  Freddie Mac’s chief counsel on public policy issues, Mitchell Delk, has confirmed that Newt did no lobbying.

    Newt made a decision after resigning that he would never be a lobbyist so that nobody would ever question the genuine nature of his advice and perspectives.  This prohibition against lobbying was made very clear to all Gingrich Group clients and strict internal protocals were developed to prevent lobbying.

  3. Newt opposed the Freddie bailout and said they needed better regulations. Newt Gingrich publicly called on the House GOP to oppose the bailout for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Furthermore, in an interview with Freddie Mac posted on their website, Gingrich argued that their regulations needed to improved.

  4. The payments from Freddie Mac were to Gingrich Group, not to Newt. The Gingrich Group had over 30 employees and offices in three cities.  Client payments were to the company, not directly to Newt.  Claiming that Newt received $1.6 million from Freddie Mac is as ridiculous as claiming that Mitt Romney received the entire gross product of Bain Capital.

    Freddie Mac was a small part of the client and revenue base of The Gingrich Group and Newt’s various small businesses.  The Gingrich Group offered strategic advice to a wide variety of clients about a wide variety of issues, including IBM, Microsoft, The US Chamber of Commerce and more.  Gingrich Group fees were comparable to that of many consulting firms.

  5. Newt Will Break Up Fannie and Freddie. Newt is broadly favorable of the concept of Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) but believes the financial crisis shows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be broken up and their smaller sucessors be moved off of government guarantees and into the free market. 

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Contact:

R.C. Hammond
Press Secretary
November 16, 2011
Fact Sheet: The Gingrich Group and Freddie Mac

Atlanta, GA - ln response to a Bloomberg News story today about Freddie Mac's hiring of the consulting firm, The Gingrich Group, over the course of an eight year period, Newt 2012 released the following fact sheet: 
  1. Newt Gingrich welcomes scrutiny of his record in public office and as a small businessman.  Gingrich believes that properly vetting the potential next president is absolutely necessary in a free society and that a properly vetted nominee for the Republican Party will better be able to defeat President Obama and lead our country in rebuilding the America we love. 
     
  2. Gingrich has never lobbied for Freddie Mac, or any client, nor has anyone in any of the organizations he founded after leaving office as part of their work with them. Gingrich made a decision after resigning that he would never be a lobbyist so that nobody would ever question the genuine nature of his advice and perspectives. This prohibition against lobbying was made very clear to all Gingrich Group clients and strict internal protocals were developed to prevent lobbying. Today’s Bloomberg article confirms that Gingrich and his firm did no lobbying for Freddie Mac.
     
  3. Nor did Gingrich, as part of his contract, advocate against pending legislation affecting Freddie Mac, as Gingrich was accused of doing by the moderator at the CNBC debate in Michigan.  This, too, was confirmed by the Bloomberg News article this morning.
     
  4. Freddie Mac was a small part of the client and revenue base of The Gingrich Group and Gingrich’s various small businesses.  The Gingrich Group offered strategic advice to a wide variety of clients about a wide variety of issues, including IBM, Microsoft, The US Chamber of Commerce and more. Gingrich Group fees were comparable to that of many consulting firms.
     
  5. Gingrich is broadly favorable of the concept of Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) but believes the financial crisis shows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be broken up and their smaller successors be moved off of government guarantees and into the free market.
     
  6. Gingrich also is in favor of efforts to increase home ownership in America but as a conservative believes it has to be within a context of learning how to budget and save in a responsible way, the opposite of the lending practices that led to the financial crisis. 


Contact: R.C. Hammond