Newt Gingrich acknowledged on Wednesday that his career as a high-paid consultant for Freddie Mac is fair game for the press. But that does’t mean he has to play it. The Republican candidate’s spokesman told reporters that he has no plans to release any records relating to his reported eight-year stint with the mortgage giant.
The campaign e-mailed reporters with a statement on Wednesday evening that mostly restated what the candidate had already said: he never did any lobbying for the company, but instead offered “strategic advice.” According to the release, Gingrich also did not “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.”
“Newt Gingrich welcomes scrutiny of his record in public office and as a small businessman,” the statement read. “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.”
But while Gingrich said earlier in the day that he would try to put out documents related to his work in order to clarify his role, spokesman RC Hammond indicated that the press shouldn’t expect to see them anytime soon. “This is it,” Hammond told the Des Moines Register when asked if any documents were on the way.
You can check the full “fact sheet” from Gingrich here.
