Big Book Deal Is Defended By Gingrich

House Speaker Newt Gingrich defended his lucrative book deal to members of the House Ethics Committee on Thursday in a three-hour session described by one committee member as “very free-wheeling.”

One participant in the closed-door meeting at the Capitol said it was not particularly acrimonious, though a grim-faced Gingrich declined to discuss his appearance with reporters afterward.

“It was a dialogue between 11 people who tend to bump into one another on the floor of the House and are able to have a serious discussion about legitimate and earnest issues,” said one person at the meeting. “It was not testy, not personal, not hostile.”

Gingrich, R-Ga., appeared in what House records suggest was only the second time in history that a speaker has given sworn testimony before the House Ethics Committee. In 1989, then-Speaker Jim Wright, D-Texas, appeared before the committee to respond to charges that Gingrich had initiated.