End Of An Era: Newt Gingrich Closes Up His Tiffany’s Account

by Frances Martel | 6:44 pm, July 25th, 2011

» 26 comments

Newt Gingrich has finally put an end to one of the many reasons his campaign is no longer taken seriously. According to the financial disclosure forms his campaign recently submitted to the Federal Election Commission, Gingrich has shut down his Tiffany’s credit account. The account was the source of much mockery several months ago as it was first reported that he owed the store half a million dollars, with Gingrich refusing to answer any questions about it.

According to the Wall Street Journal, this round of FEC reports shows that Gingrich closed his entire account with the store, perhaps in an attempt to keep his financial house in order:

The former House speaker spent the first weeks of his presidential campaign defending the existence of the Tiffany & Co. account. The disclosures do not give a date for when Mr. Gingrich closed the account. Mr. Gingrich’s campaign declined to comment.

Mr. Gingrich’s campaign has since endured the mass resignation of its senior staff and disclosures that he already owes more than $1 million to former aides and outside vendors to his campaign. The former speaker owes nearly half of that debt to a company that books private airplanes.

The account’s close does not end the mystery of what, exactly, Gingrich was spending so much money on at the legendary jewelry store, though it may explain what Gingrich was doing when cited at the store on Saturday. Among the other interesting things in his financial disclosures is the fact that the bulk of his income comes from Gingrich Productions, a media company. Yes, Newt Gingrich owns a media company– it “produces documentaries, including a recent film about what makes America unique – echoing a major theme of the former speaker’s presidential campaign.” It also serves to publish and promote both Newt and Callista Gingrich’s several books.

The post notes that Gingrich and Rep. Ron Paul are the first to hand in their financial disclosure forms, though the Tiffany’s story appears the most fascinating bit of information on either. As the rest roll in– especially those generating more funds from fewer sources– expect more potential controversy and attack ad fodder.

2012 elections, newt gingrich, Republicans, Tiffany's, wall street journal

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NUT75XKRMJZ2QZJUUWOYH7Y7TA Cincy

Yeah?? So?? You’re an idiot, Martel.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NUT75XKRMJZ2QZJUUWOYH7Y7TA Cincy

Yeah?? So?? You’re an idiot, Martel.
Anonymous

the guy owes a million dollars and was criticizing u.s. debt, you seem to be the idiot here.
Anonymous

In other New York news, Eliot Spitzer and Ed Rendell closed their accounts with working girl Tiffany .
Harry Thompson

Gingrich might be closing out his third marriage too.
Anonymous

LOL

He paid it off; Barry hasn’t!
Anonymous

LOL

He paid it off; Barry hasn’t!
Anonymous

Big Eddie! Nice one.
Anonymous

Big Eddie! Nice one.
Anonymous

Gingrich pays it’s bills, America just racks debt. Oh wait, that’s what the TEA party is trying to change. Whoops! You might want to rethink your statement if you want to be consistant.
Anonymous

Gingrich pays it’s bills, America just racks debt. Oh wait, that’s what the TEA party is trying to change. Whoops! You might want to rethink your statement if you want to be consistant.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NUT75XKRMJZ2QZJUUWOYH7Y7TA Cincy

Uh..no. He had a credit line of a million dollars.

Moron
Anonymous

Bush never paid his, he just pushed it off to the next president.
Anonymous

Uh…no. He had a Tiffany credit line of $500,000.

His campaign is in debt to workers and vendors to the tune of $1 million.
Anonymous

Gingrich has not yet paid the campaign debt off according to the most recent filings.
Anonymous

Which is okay because David Vitter wanted all of her free appointments. And he pays good old lobbyist cash.
Paul G

Really MEDIAite?…this is/was a story?
Anonymous

The mystery of Newt’s Tiffany account, I would bet, relates to his “American Solutions” operation. http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/10/01/newts-group-pulls-award-from-adult-club-owner/

The way this scam works: American Solutions notifies a business owner that they have been chosen to win an award for excellence. The winners are asked to pay a fee, and in return, Newt’s group honors them with an award. My guess is that Tiffanys was providing the awards.
Anonymous

Frances, you’re working awfully hard to turn this non-story into a story. I have a suggestion for you- go over to Tiffany’s and see if you can get a line of credit. Secondly, do some reporting and find out how many line of credit accounts Tiffany’s has nationwide. While they won’t give you names, they might give you statistics on the number of accounts and the maximum amount.

It is common practice for Tiffany’s to extend credit for purchases of expensive jewelry. Honestly, you’re just so “breathless” over this.
Kolyampls

What if he just “closes” his Tiffany account. What does “closes up” mean?
Mia

Awww Newt Gingrich still thinks he’s in the running for president? That’s so cute.
Anonymous

And barry is pushing it on to the next president.

Sorry- Bush was allowed to serve only 2 terms- Barry has been in charge for over 2.5 years and your refusal to acknowledge it shows your racism.
Anonymous

Totally OT.
Anonymous

But Ted Kennedy and Weiner had her booked through next year!
http://games-survival.com Justplaythegame

I love the picture… Ok, ya got me..I was in politics for my own self gain, I don’t care about people!
Anonymous

If you got out once in while maybe you would realize Kennedy is no longer living. Nice Try!