Gingrich's Freddie Mac Contract Released

Newt reported to a top lobbyist in one-year, $300K deal
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 24, 2012 7:29 AM CST
Updated Jan 24, 2012 7:48 AM CST
Newt Gingrich's Freddie Mac Contract Released
Newt Gingrich gestures during a Republican presidential debate Monday Jan. 23, 2012, at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla.   (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Newt Gingrich made $25,000 a month working for Freddie Mac, where he reported to one of the company's leading lobbyists, according to his newly released contract with the mortgage giant. The 15 pages unveiled by Gingrich's former firm cover one year of his eight-year, $1.6-million relationship with Freddie—and the documents probably won't satisfy Mitt Romney's demands for records from the period, notes the Washington Post. It offers just a paragraph on the "scope of services and fees," and doesn't give details.

Freddie Mac exec Craig Thomas, listed as a lobbyist for the firm in 2000, 2005, and 2006, is named as "project director" in the contract. Gingrich says he talked to officials at the firm for just an hour a month, and his website suggests that "at no time did Gingrich lobby for Freddie Mac," adding that he did not "ever advocate against pending legislation affecting Freddie Mac." No word yet from the former speaker as to whether more documentation is on the way, as Romney continues to hammer his opponent over the matter. (More Newt Gingrich stories.)

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