Newt Exposed: See For Yourself
March 15, 1996
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The Federal Election Commission recently released over a thousand documents relating to its case against GOPAC in federal court. While newspapers and other print media can only print short quotes from these sources, the MoJo Wire lets you see the documents themselves. The following is the first in a series annotating documents from the FEC and other sources. (Click on the documents for full-size copies.)
Correspondence between Gingrich and Kansas City developer Miller Nichols, director of the J.C. Nichols Company:
In a January 19, 1990 letter to Gingrich, Nichols writes: "I list below my record of giving [to GOPAC] since 1985. My total support including the attached check for $10,000 equals $59,000. . . The federal government is causing the J.C. Nichols Company. . . a great deal of financial distress. This is in connection with the asbestos regulations. . . It may be that I will call you for an appointment to come back to Washington to discuss this issue."
In his response to Nichols, Newt promises to look into the "problematic" regulations.
On April 24, Newt writes to William Reilly, then-administrator of the EPA, expressing his concern over "the crisis that is arising in our courts from asbestos litigation" and soliciting any "help" Reilly could give. A handwritten postscript at the bottom of the letter reads: "Is there any reasonable way to reapproach this issue or is it just hopelessly entangled?" The letter is cc'd to Miller Nichols. Miller Nichols' support of GOPAC has continued strong since the above exchange. Earlier this year our Following Newt's Money feature revealed that Nichols and his wife Jeanette have donated more than $90,000 to GOPAC through 1994.
Keep an eye on this spot. We will have more annotated documents up in the coming days and weeks.
