WASHINGTON -- A watchdog group filed a complaint Monday accusing Newt Gingrich of using his presidential campaign for personal gain in part because the campaign paid Gingrich $42,000 for a mailing list.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed the complaint with the Federal Election Commission based on a report this month in The Washington Post about the mailing list and other accounts of Gingrich mixing business and political interests.
This summer the Gingrich campaign reported a $47,000 debt to the former House speaker for travel expenses and use of a mailing list. Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond told the Post that the campaign reimbursed Gingrich $42,000 for the personal mailing list, but it was not listed in campaign finance reports in an apparent oversight.
The CREW complaint alleges that the list sale would violate campaign finance law by using campaign funds for personal gain, and not reporting it would be illegal as well.
In a statement Monday, Hammond said, "If the FEC considers the complaint, they will find that the rules are being followed and published regulations are being enforced.” He did not elaborate.
Gingrich reshuffled his business empire before officially announcing his run, including creating Gingrich Productions Inc., with Gingrich’s wife, Callista, as CEO. The company sells books and DVDs created by the Gingriches.
Many Gingrich campaign events have revolved around book signings. Those proceeds go to the Gingriches -- not the campaign -- and the events often involve mixing staff and resources from the campaign and Gingrich Productions, according to recent reports in the Post and New York Times cited by CREW.
The complaint alleges that the combined events represent an illegal corporate contribution from Gingrich Productions to the Gingrich campaign because the corporation is paying expenses and the campaign solicits donations from attendees.
“Newt Gingrich will do anything to make a buck, even sell his own mailing list to his campaign,” CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said in a statement.
The House Ethics Committee, when Gingrich was speaker, investigated allegations that he used tax-deductible donations to finance a politically charged college course he taught. Though he was cleared of nearly all the allegations, he was reprimanded and forced to pay $300,000 to help cover investigation costs.
CREW, a nonprofit started in 2003, describes itself as an ethics watchdog group. The nonprofit traces its origins to Democrats, and its legal filings more often come against Republicans.
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