As the Florida ad wars continue, Newt Gingrich has pulled an ad that left out the word “illegal” in characterizing Mitt Romney as “anti-immigrant,” but Romney continues to run an ad that leaves out the word “exonerated” in highlighting ethics charges leveled against Gingrich.
Byron York chronicles how the ethics charges against Gingrich were a product of vindictive partisan politics that were inflamed by a complicit press corps. York writes that after having provided “saturation coverage” of the accusations, the major newspapers barely reported — and the big-3 TV networks didn’t report — that the Clinton-era I.R.S. concluded an exhaustive 3-year inquiry by vindicating Gingrich. As York writes, “Gingrich was exonerated….The bottom line: Gingrich acted properly and violated no laws.”
Romney’s ad uses footage from NBC without saying a word about Gingrich’s subsequent exoneration or NBC’s failure to report it.
