Reporting on Gingrich, Gazette omitted his admission of extramarital affair

Summary: In reporting on Newt Gingrich's guest appearance on Focus on the Family's daily radio show, The Gazette of Colorado Springs noted the former U.S. House speaker's criticisms of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The article, however, did not mention Gingrich's widely reported admission to Focus on the Family founder James Dobson of an extramarital affair during the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton.

A March 9 article in The Gazette of Colorado Springs reported former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich's (R-GA) call to abolish the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit during a two-part interview on James Dobson's Focus on the Family radio show. But The Gazette did not mention that Gingrich admitted to Dobson that he had an extramarital affair during the impeachment proceedings against former President Bill Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair. In contrast, The Denver Post, the Rocky Mountain News, the Fort Collins Coloradoan, and the Boulder Daily Camera all published in their March 9 editions a March 8 Associated Press article about Gingrich's admission.

The Gazette article (accessed through the paper's electronic edition) by Paul Asay reported that Gingrich -- during the first part of the interview, which aired March 8 -- "called for replacing the judges of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals." It quoted Gingrich as telling Dobson that "[t]he Ninth Circuit is so consistently wrong, it is so consistently radical, it is such a violation of the spirit of American history, that we'd be better off if we simply abolished it."

The AP article, which was based on an advance copy of the transcript of the March 9 show, reported that Gingrich admitted to having had an extramarital affair during the 1998-99 impeachment proceedings against Clinton in an interview with Dobson, who asked him point blank about the rumored affair:

"The honest answer is yes," Gingrich, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, said in an interview with Focus on the Family founder James Dobson to be aired Friday, according to a transcript provided to The Associated Press. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards."

Gingrich argued in the interview, however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity.

"The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," the former Georgia congressman said of Clinton's 1998 House impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. "I drew a line in my mind that said, 'Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed, and even though at a purely personal level I am not rendering judgment on another human being, as a leader of the government trying to uphold the rule of law, I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept ... perjury in your highest officials."

While Gingrich was House speaker, Clinton was impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice involving a case of sexual indiscretion with Lewinsky, a White House intern. Clinton was acquitted of both charges on February 12, 1999. As the AP reported, "Gingrich's congressional career ended in 1998 when he abruptly resigned from Congress after poor showings from Republicans in elections and after being reprimanded by the House ethics panel over charges that he used tax-exempt funding to advance his political goals."

Despite the widely distributed March 8 AP article, the Gazette article only noted regarding the second part of the interview that Gingrich would be on Dobson's program again March 9 "and a Focus news release said he will be talking about radical Islam."

From Paul Asay's article, "Abolish 9th Circuit, Gingrich tells Dobson," in the March 9 edition of The Gazette of Colorado Springs:

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, called for replacing the judges of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in an appearance on Focus on the Family's daily radio program Thursday.

"The Ninth Circuit is so consistently wrong, it is so consistently radical, it is such a violation of the spirit of American history, that we'd be better off if we simply abolished it," he told the program's host, James Dobson.

Gingrich advocated reconstituting the court with different judges. Because federal judges are appointed for life, such a move would require impeachment of the Ninth Circuit judges.

The Ninth Circuit has long rankled conservatives with its controversial rulings, which include declaring unconstitutional the addition of the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.

During the program, Dobson cited another decision that he said allows public schools to "operate independently" of parents.

"That's the kind of stuff this crazy court does, isn't it?" Dobson said.

"This would be a completely reasonable court in France," Gingrich said. "It makes no sense as a court in the United States."

[...]

Gingrich will be on Dobson's program again today, and a Focus news release said he will be talking about radical Islam.

—C.H.