Watchdog group files complaint over Gingrich’s $42,000 list

Calling attention to the more than $40,000 that Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich charged his campaign for use of his personal mailing list, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has called on the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether Gingrich violated campaign finance laws.

Gingrich’s campaign struggled financially for most of the year, spending about $1.30 for every $1 it raised while racking up as much as $1.2 million in debt. Among those debts was at least $42,000 owed to Gingrich himself for use of the mailing list.

Gingrich’s debt to himself has been well known for some time; his campaign disclosed it in its first required financial filing in mid-July. About the same time, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond told the Los Angeles Times that the value of the list was determined according to Federal Election Commission rules, which require that campaigns disclose the fair market value of nonmonetary assets that are used to assist a campaign. (Hammond also said at the time that the list was valued at $44,000.)

The mailing list issue resurfaced this month when the Washington Post reported that in the third financial quarter of the year, the campaign paid what it owed to Gingrich for the list, even though debts were still owed to other creditors.

The Post noted that the payment was not disclosed in the campaign’s quarterly disclosure report -- Hammond said it may have been an oversight -- nor was the list disclosed as an asset when Gingrich divulged his personal assets and liabilities, as required by federal candidates.

Further complicating matters, Gingrich and his wife, Callista, also own Gingrich Productions Inc., “a performance and production company featuring the work of Newt Gingrich and Callista Gingrich,” according to the company’s website.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW, which regularly files complaints with the Federal Election Commission, alleged in its complaint Monday that the mailing list may have belonged to Gingrich Productions. If the Gingrich campaign paid Gingrich himself for the list, that could amount to a conversion of campaign funds for personal use.

Citing another Washington Post report that described how Gingrich Productions is often present at Gingrich campaign events -- a risky collision of private business activity with a federal campaign that cannot accept contributions from corporations -- the watchdog group wants the FEC to investigate whether Gingrich Productions has been illegally assisting Gingrich’s presidential campaign.

Stefan Passantino, Gingrich’s lawyer, told the Post that to avoid violating any federal campaign finance rules, expenses for any events that involve the campaign and Gingrich Productions are strictly segregated. When it’s unclear which entity should pay for an expense, the campaign pays, he said.

“If the FEC considers the complaint, they will find that the rules are being followed and published regulations are being enforced,” Hammond said Monday in a statement responding to the CREW complaint.

kim.geiger@latimes.com