As we get news today that Newt Gingrich was working for an ethanol lobby into 2011, an alert reader pointed me to a July 1999 TV appearance by my late boss Bob Novak on CNN with Judy Woodruff. Here’s the transcript:
WOODRUFF: At last but not least, Bob, we understand you have a tidbit about Newt Gingrich.
NOVAK: Yes, you know, there’s a tremendous fight shaping up in Washington. A group of financial institutions calling itself FM Watch is fighting the effort by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two mortgage-insurance companies to get into the consumer field. And this new cartel or organization has hired Haley Barbour. Well, Freddie Mac, which is a government-backed outfit, has hired, as a consultant, Newt Gingrich.
Now, it means he doesn’t have to register as a lobbyist. But, you know, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it is a duck, and I think that Newt Gingrich is now going to be a high-paid lobbyist — I meant consultant for Freddie Mac.
WOODRUFF: We heard it here first.
NOVAK: Yes, you know, there’s a tremendous fight shaping up in Washington. A group of financial institutions calling itself FM Watch is fighting the effort by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two mortgage-insurance companies to get into the consumer field. And this new cartel or organization has hired Haley Barbour. Well, Freddie Mac, which is a government-backed outfit, has hired, as a consultant, Newt Gingrich.
Now, it means he doesn’t have to register as a lobbyist. But, you know, if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it is a duck, and I think that Newt Gingrich is now going to be a high-paid lobbyist — I meant consultant for Freddie Mac.
WOODRUFF: We heard it here first.
