Editing Newt Gingrich (section)

=== Ethics charges and reprimand ===
[[File:Clinton1997SOTU.jpg|thumb|upright|Vice President Gore, Gingrich and President Clinton at the [[1997 State of the Union Address]]]]
Eighty-four ethics charges were filed by Democrats against Gingrich during his term as Speaker. All were eventually dropped except for one: claiming tax-exempt status for a college course run for political purposes.<ref name="curtawapo">{{cite news |author=Anderson, Curt |date=October 11, 1998 |url=https://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/leadership/stories/101198.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000817053602/http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/leadership/stories/101198.htm |archive-date=August 17, 2000 |title=Ethics committee drops last of 84&nbsp;charges against Gingrich |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> On January 21, 1997, the House officially [[List of United States Representatives expelled, censured, or reprimanded#Reprimanded Representatives|reprimanded]] Gingrich (in a vote of 395 in favor, 28&nbsp;opposed) and "ordered [him] to reimburse the House for some of the costs of the investigation in the amount of $300,000".<ref name="HSCE">{{cite web |url=http://ethics.house.gov/committee-report/matter-representative-newt-gingrich |title=In the Matter of Representative Newt Gingrich (Report 105-1) |date=January 17, 1997 |publisher=House Select Committee on Ethics |access-date=February 8, 2012 |archive-date=February 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208092402/http://ethics.house.gov/committee-report/matter-representative-newt-gingrich |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/leadership/stories/011897.htm |title=Ethics Panel Supports Reprimand of Gingrich |first1=John E. |last1=Yang |first2=Helen |last2=Dewar |name-list-style=amp |date=January 18, 1997 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=February 8, 2012 |archive-date=February 9, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209072632/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/leadership/stories/011897.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="yang012297"/> It was the first time a Speaker was disciplined for an ethics violation.<ref name="yang012297">{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/leadership/stories/012297.htm |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |author-link=John Yang (journalist) |title=House Reprimands, Penalizes Speaker |first=John E. |last=Yang |date=January 22, 1997 |page=A1 |access-date=September 6, 2017 |archive-date=May 25, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525123429/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/leadership/stories/012297.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="clymer012297">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/22/us/house-in-a-395-28-vote-reprimands-gingrich.html |title=House, in a 395–28 vote, reprimands Gingrich |last=Clymer |first=Adam |date=January 22, 1997 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=1 |access-date=January 24, 2012 |archive-date=January 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129014209/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/22/us/house-in-a-395-28-vote-reprimands-gingrich.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Additionally, the [[United States House Committee on Ethics|House Ethics Committee]] concluded that inaccurate information supplied to investigators on behalf of Gingrich represented "intentional or&nbsp;... reckless" disregard of House rules.<ref name=dewar>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/leadership/stories/011897.htm |title=Ethics Panel Supports Reprimand of Gingrich |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|author1=Yang, John E. |author2=Dewar, Helen |page=A1 |date=January 18, 1997 |access-date=August 15, 2006 |archive-date=August 21, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821144555/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/govt/leadership/stories/011897.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The Ethics Committee's Special Counsel [[James M. Cole]] concluded that Gingrich had violated federal tax law and had lied to the ethics panel in an effort to force the committee to dismiss the complaint against him. The full committee panel did not agree whether tax law had been violated and left that issue up to the [[Internal Revenue Service|IRS]].<ref name=dewar/> In 1999, the IRS cleared the organizations connected with the "Renewing American Civilization" courses under investigation for possible tax violations.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7D61138F937A35751C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=David E. |last=Rosenbaum |title=I.R.S. Clears Foundation Linked to Gingrich's Ethics Dispute |date=February 4, 1999 |access-date=February 11, 2017 |archive-date=November 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201122132245/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/04/us/irs-clears-foundation-linked-to-gingrich-s-ethics-dispute.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Regarding the situation, Gingrich said in January 1997, "I did not manage the effort intensely enough to thoroughly direct or review information being submitted to the committee on my behalf. In my name and over my signature, inaccurate, incomplete and unreliable statements were given to the committee, but I did not intend to mislead the committee&nbsp;... I brought down on the people's house a controversy which could weaken the faith people have in their government."<ref name="clymer122296">{{Cite news |title=Panel Concludes Gingrich Violated Rules on Ethics |url=http://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/1222gingrich-ethics.html?scp=1&sq=gingrich%20ethics&st=cse |date=December 22, 1996 |first=Adam |last=Clymer |author-link=Adam Clymer |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=January 3, 2012 |archive-date=January 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112215912/http://partners.nytimes.com/library/politics/1222gingrich-ethics.html?scp=1&sq=gingrich%20ethics&st=cse |url-status=live }}</ref>