From Ruth Marcus in the Wash Post, commenting on Gingrich saying that Pelosi doesn't have the ethics to be Speaker:
[I]’s amazing that Gingrich -- the only House speaker in history to be disciplined for ethics violations -- had the gall to make that claim. Does he think no one remembers?
Let’s review. Gingrich was reprimanded by the House and had to pay a $300,000 penalty for improperly using tax-deductible money for partisan political gain and for submitting false information to the ethics subcommittee investigating his conduct. An investigation by the House Ethics Committee concluded that Gingrich’s conduct represented "intentional or…reckless" disregard of House rules and that there was “reason to believe” that Gingrich knew he was providing false information.
"The violation does not represent only a single instance of reckless conduct," a report by an investigative subcommittee concluded. "Rather, over a number of years and in a number of situations, Mr. Gingrich showed a disregard and lack of respect for the standards of conduct that applied to his activities."
To be clear, the ethics case against Gingrich was no partisan witch hunt. The investigative subcommittee that determined he had violated ethics rules was headed by Florida Republican Porter Goss. The vote to reprimand him and impose the penalty was 395 to 28.
