Watchdog: Gingrich Productions may have illegally donated to campaign

A Washington watchdog requested a Federal Election Commission investigation Monday into Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich’s campaign contributions.
 
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) believes Gingrich Productions may have made illegal donations to Gingrich’s campaign, according to a CREW press release.
 
{mosads}“[Gingrich] has a long history of playing fast and loose with ethics rules so it should surprise no one to learn he is at it again,” CREW executive director Melanie Sloan said in a statement.
 
Sloan’s group filed a complaint with the commission, citing a Washington Post report on the Gingrich campaign. Gingrich’s campaign purchased his “personal mailing list” from Gingrich for $42,000, the Post reported in early December.
 
Since the mailing list was not listed as a personal asset on Gingrich’s financial disclosure form, CREW asserts that the mailing list was the property of Gingrich Productions. It was not Gingrich’s personal property, the release stated.
 
CREW also requested that the commission’s investigation examine if Gingrich Productions “illegally subsidized Mr. Gingrich’s presidential campaign by holding campaign events in conjunction with his book signings.”

Gingrich campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond said the campaign is going by the book.

“If the FEC considers the complaint, they will find that the rules are being followed and published regulations are being enforced,” Hammond said in a statement.

Gingrich Productions did not immediately return requests for comment.

—Updated at 2:47 p.m. with a statement from the Gingrich campaign.