In response to pointed questioning from Univision host Jorge Ramos in a forum yesterday, Newt Gingrich denied that he had been a hypocrite for criticizing President Clinton’s actions related to the Monica Lewinsky affair, saying that he had been criticizing Clinton for lying under oath, not for having the affair. Elaborating on the differences between himself and Clinton, Gingrich said, per ABC, “The fact is, I have been through two divorces. I have been deposed both times under oath and both times I have told the truth in the deposition because I know – I am not a lawyer – so I know it is a felony. Bill Clinton, who is a lawyer, a Yale law school graduate, he knew he was lying under oath, he knew it was perjury, he knew it was a felony and in fact, he lost his license to practice law in Arkansas as part of the deal –”
But according to a report last month from the Daily Beast (hat tip: Drudge), Gingrich never gave a deposition. From the report:
Gingrich has long justified his votes in favor of all four of the impeachment counts against Clinton on the basis of the president’s alleged perjury. But a Daily Beast probe of both divorces can find no evidence that he was ever deposed. …
Alan Lee, the Carroll County clerk of the court, who released the 1980–81 records of Gingrich’s Georgia divorce from Jackie Battley last week, told The Daily Beast: “The fact that there was no deposition in the papers indicates to me that it never occurred.” Douglas Vassy, the attorney for Battley who was supposed to depose Gingrich, says, “There was no deposition.”
John Mayoue, the lawyer for Gingrich’s second wife, Marianne Gingrich, told us: “Simply put, he was never deposed.”