In Brief: Gingrich ethics probe
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
Gingrich ethics probe: House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, which is investigating charges of ethics violations involving House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.), dismisses "the allegation of improper intervention with the Executive branch for a donor to the Progress and Freedom Foundation (Direct Access Diagnostics)," the committee said in a Dec. 6 letter to the speaker. Elliott Millenson, former CEO and president of the Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, testified before the committee Nov. 29. He reportedly discussed contributions that he, Direct Access and J&J made to the Progress and Freedom Foundation -- a conservative think tank with close ties to the speaker -- and a possible link between the contributions and Gingrich's query to the White House on the status of DAD's Confide home-use HIV specimen collection kit...