Gingrich Plans to Meet With Ethics Panel

House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) will appear soon before the House Ethics Committee, most likely under oath, to answer questions about his controversial book contract with HarperCollins, his office said Friday. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch also is to appear, separately.

The announcements of the appearances by Gingrich and Murdoch, the owner of HarperCollins, reflect a quickening pace in the probe.

The Ethics Committee has been investigating a series of complaints against Gingrich. Democrats allege violations of House rules in connection with the contract for the book as well as with a college course he taught last winter.

The panel has been split along partisan lines, with five Democrats pushing for appointment of an outside counsel to investigate the matter and five Republicans resisting. Last week, several Democrats accused the committee of dragging its heels in its probe of the first Republican Speaker in 40 years.

Meanwhile, Gingrich signed copies of his newly published book, “To Renew America,” at a bookstore a few blocks from the Capitol, part of a small number of appearances preceding a 25-city tour planned for August.

In the statement from his office, Gingrich called his scheduled Ethics Committee appearance a “positive development.”

Jan Baran, Gingrich’s lawyer, said the Speaker had been contacted by the committee’s staff but had yet to receive anything in writing. Tony Blankley, Gingrich’s press spokesman, said the appearance would most likely be this month, and he expected it to be under oath.

Murdoch announced his own appearance in a statement that stressed that he and two employees of his News Corp. would be appearing voluntarily. “They were delighted to have the opportunity to set the record straight,” said the statement.