Off the Record

Representative Newt Gingrich (R., Ga.) was vindicated by the House ethics committee, but you’d have to look pretty closely at the fine print to find that out. A front-page Washington Times account, for example, ran under the headline, “Gingrich to Be ‘Admonished’ on One Ethics Count.” The body of the story put the word admonished in quotation marks, even though it does not appear in the ethics committee’s official letter. Similar wording appeared in other stories, which landed on the front doorsteps of local Post and Times subscribers before Mr. Gingrich had even been informed of the findings. CBS had the story the evening before.

This, of course, is what the Beltway means when it speaks of ethics. First, Mr. Gingrich was left hanging for a year even though many Democrats themselves admitted there was nothing to the charges. Then he was not informed of the findings until his opponents had had the chance to put a spin on them, ensuring that the headlines would be not “Gingrich Cleared” but “Gingrich Admonished.” The committee’s actual letter, delivered by fellow Republican John Myers (Ind.) during the seminar given by former President Richard Nixon, said that it had “dismissed the complaints” but brought two minor items (involving a loan he co-signed for his daughter and a letter sent out from his office to promote a senior citizens’ cruise) to Mr. Gingrich’s attention for correction.

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Representative Newt Gingrich (R., Ga.) was vindicated by the House ethics committee, but you’d have to look pretty closely at the fine print to find that out. A front-page Washington Times account, for example, ran under the headline, “Gingrich to Be ‘Admonished’ on One Ethics Count.” The body of the story put the word admonished in quotation marks, even though it does not appear in the ethics committee’s official letter. Similar wording appeared in other stories, which landed on the front doorsteps of local Post and Times subscribers before Mr. Gingrich had even been informed of the findings. CBS had the story the evening before.

This, of course, is what the Beltway means when it speaks of ethics. First, Mr. Gingrich was left hanging for a year even though many Democrats themselves admitted there was nothing to the charges. Then he was not informed of the findings until his opponents had had the chance to put a spin on them, ensuring that the headlines would be not “Gingrich Cleared” but “Gingrich Admonished.” The committee’s actual letter, delivered by fellow Republican John Myers (Ind.) during the seminar given by former President Richard Nixon, said that it had “dismissed the complaints” but brought two minor items (involving a loan he co-signed for his daughter and a letter sent out from his office to promote a senior citizens’ cruise) to Mr. Gingrich’s attention for correction.