Ron Paul accuses Gingrich of 'selling access' to D.C. in new ad
The presidential campaign of Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R) released a new web ad on Monday that accuses rival Newt Gingrich of enriching himself with lobbyist money as a member of Congress.
The nearly two-minute ad, which will be promoted on conservative web sites, highlights the fact that Gingrich faced 84 ethics complaints as Speaker of the House. All but one of those complaints were dropped by the House ethics committee, but he did have to pay a $300,000 reprimand.
The ad notes that Gingrich's net worth had grown to $7.5 million by the time he left Congress. It also includes a clip of Gingrich calling himself an "insider" and another clip where he brags about getting paid $60,000 a speech.
The web-based ad is the second to target Gingrich, who is currently the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination. Another ad released in late November accused Gingrich of "serial hypocrisy" and highlighted his work for the government mortgage giants Freddie Mac.
“These are all legitimate and important issues to point out to the American people,” Ron Paul 2012 National Campaign Chairman Jesse Benton said in a statement. “If Americans are serious about changing the status quo in Washington, then they must take into account the record of someone who profited from the housing collapse with taxpayers’ money, advocated for Obamacare-style individual mandates, and who played the Washington game of getting rich due to influence as well as anyone.”
Watch video, uploaded to YouTube on December 12, 2011, below: