Gingrich Allies Predict His Easy Reelection as Speaker

Republican lawmakers rallied Sunday behind embattled Speaker Newt Gingrich, predicting he would easily win reelection to the House’s top leadership position in two weeks despite his admission that he violated congressional ethics rules.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) declared there was “not one bit of doubt” in his mind that the controversial Georgia Republican would retain the speakership, which puts him second in line of succession for the presidency, after the vice president.

“None whatsoever,” said Armey, speaking on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press.” “He will definitely be reelected.”

Also Sunday, a White House lawyer disclosed that President Clinton was informed last spring when questions were first raised internally about $460,000 of suspicious contributions delivered to the first family’s legal defense fund. The money was later returned.

Although there is no suggestion the president did anything wrong, Clinton in recent weeks has sought to distance himself from knowledge of controversial fund-raising practices by the Democratic National Committee. And the man who delivered the $460,000 to the defense fund later provided $15,000 to the DNC, money that also has been returned.

Republican leaders expressed hope that the House Ethics Committee would decide what measures to take to punish Gingrich in advance of the Jan. 7 vote in which House members will decide whether to reelect him as speaker.

Possible punishments range from a reprimand, which would not require him to relinquish the speaker’s chair, to expulsion from the House, which is considered highly unlikely.

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In a dramatic reversal, Gingrich admitted Saturday he provided the panel with inaccurate information and failed to seek legal advice on whether a college course he taught complied with rules forbidding the use of tax-exempt foundations for political purposes.

Gingrich had steadfastly denied any wrongdoing throughout the panel’s two-year investigation.

“We believe the Ethics Committee has ample time between now and Jan. 7 to resolve this issue,” said Rep. John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Republican Conference. Boehner echoed Armey and other Republicans in insisting that Gingrich, who remained secluded at his Georgia home Sunday, would retain his leadership of the House.

“The Republican members of the House are fully supportive of Newt,” Boehner said on ABC-TV’s “This Week” program.

Democrats called for Gingrich to be punished and to lose the powerful leadership post he has occupied since he helped Republicans seize control of Congress two years ago.

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“The man lied. He got caught,” said former New York Gov. Mario M. Cuomo, speaking on “Meet the Press.” “He says, ‘I accept the responsibility, but I don’t want to pay any price.’ If I get caught stealing a pair of sneakers, I go to Riker’s Island. If I’m a welfare mother, you have to be personally responsible . . . you accept the responsibility, you pay the price. You’re out as speaker.”

House Minority Whip Rep. David E. Bonior (D-Mich.), speaking on “This Week,” agreed, calling for public hearings when the ethics panel meets to debate Gingrich’s fate. “It ought to be an open hearing so the American people can have this laid out and can understand the dynamics,” Bonior said.

The controversy regarding the Clintons’ legal defense fund concerns whether the contributions conformed with self-imposed standards, which call for limits of $1,000 per individual donor.

According to White House Special Counsel Lanny J. Davis, trustees of the private defense fund relayed their concern to the president, informing him that Yah Lin “Charlie” Trie, a Little Rock, Ark., entrepreneur and longtime friend,

had delivered the contributions.

“They certainly informed the president that there was a problem involving these checks,” Davis said on CBS-TV’s “Face the Nation.” “He [Clinton] knew there was a problem involving the checks.”

It had been announced earlier that trustees of the defense fund had informed First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and at least one senior White House official in April of the questions concerning the contributions delivered by Trie. After a six-week review, the defense fund returned the $460,000 of contributions that Trie had delivered.

Some money orders, although given in the name of separate individuals, appeared to have been written in the same handwriting.

A lawyer for the defense fund, Michael Cardozo, said on “This Week” that although records relating to the contributions have been subpoenaed by the Justice Department, prosecutors have assured him the defense fund “is not a target nor the subject of the investigation.”

Cardozo said the investigation is focusing exclusively on the fund-raising practices of the Democratic National Committee. The DNC this fall returned a $15,000 contribution delivered by Trie because of suspicion that the donation came from a foreign-based company and therefore violated federal law.

Clinton, who used to eat at Trie’s restaurant in Little Rock, has described Trie as a hard-working businessman who has not sought favors in return for his support.