Revelations about former House Speaker Newt Gingrich having an affair with a woman 23 years his junior have given the major media a lot to write about. But there?s more to this story than titillation and embarrassment. There are indications that Gingrich, who?s 56 years old, had been carrying on with 33 year-old Callista Bisek for most of the time he served as House Speaker. But was this affair really secret? And why has it surfaced now, after Gingrich has lost his official powers as Speaker? Could possible White House knowledge of this affair have played a role in making sure that Gingrich didn?t dig too deep into some of the most notorious Clinton scandals?

Carl Limbacher, who writes for the on-line Internet newspaper, NewsMax.com, puts it this way: “Did concerns about keeping ?Newtie?s Cutie? secret cause the Speaker to pull his punches as he pulled the strings behind the scenes on a whole host of investigations into President Clinton; investigations that ended up going nowhere? Despite Gingrich?s highly charged rhetoric about Clinton corruption, time and time again he failed to follow through…How could Newt not have been worried that the White House?s crack dirt-diggers already had the goods on him and Callista?”

Clinton?s lawyers had hired a private investigative firm that most likely had the information about Gingrich?s affair. This is a firm that employed former top FBI officials. More recently, pornographer Larry Flynt had been digging into the personal lives of various Republican members of the House. Yet, information about the Gingrich affair didn?t surface publicly until the tabloid newspaper the Star carried the story. Is it possible that the private investigators working for Clinton?s lawyers and Larry Flynt missed it? This is not likely. Bisek?s neighbors reported seeing Gingrich sneak in and out of her apartment. His visits must have been noticed by the Clinton spies.

Which means that this information was provided to the powers that be, and they decided to keep it secret. It was more important and valuable to them that way. Gingrich had to figure that it would be kept secret as long as he played the White House game. And that game was to derail investigations into various Clinton scandals, such as the death of White House lawyer Vincent Foster.

At one point, as Carl Limbacher points out, Gingrich had promised Congressional investigations into the Foster death. Instead, he turned the case over to Congressman Steve Schiff, a former prosecutor, who recommended that Ken Starr handle it. Congressman Dan Burton had also promised to look into it. But he dropped the ball as well, perhaps under pressure from Gingrich. Burton also had a skeleton in his closet, stemming from his own extramarital affair. Knowledge that his political opponents had this information could have played a role in his own decision to drop the Foster case. He may have figured this would pacify them.

Political blackmail is not a topic that we raise lightly. But there is a reason why politicians want skeletons to remain in their closets. This is the real significance of the Gingrich affair.

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