49. David Broder, “Malarkey from Newt Gingrich,” Washington Post, April 23, 1989.
50. Newt Gingrich, “The Gingrich Manifesto,” Washington Post, April 9, 1989.
51. Ernest Furgurson, “No Celebration for Newt,” Baltimore Sun, April 19, 1989.
52. Dan Balz, “Wright Decries Panel’s ‘Foot-Dragging,’” Washington Post, April 21, 1989; Karen Hosler, “Wright Accuses Ethics Panel of Foot-Dragging,” Baltimore Sun, April 21, 1989.
53. Gingrich to Dixon, April 24, 1989, box 674, File: Dixon v. Gingrich, NGP.
54. “Gingrich Insists His Ethics Are Fine,” Mercury News, April 26, 1989.
55. Steve Daley, “Questions About Ethics Rattle Gingrich’s Wife,” Chicago Tribune, April 26, 1989. See also Mike Christensen, “‘What We Did Was Honest,’ Gingrich Says of Book Promotion Deal,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, April 26, 1989.
56. Nancy J. Schwerzler, “Gingrich Defends Book Arrangement Involving Wife,” Baltimore Sun, April 26, 1989.
57. Myron Waldman, “Wright, Gingriches Defend Book Deal,” Newsday, April 26, 1989.
58. Horace Busby, “Gone How? Gone When? Gone Where?,” April 26, 1989, box 1093, File: Wright Investigation, NGP.
59. David Rogers, “Wright’s Attorneys Prepare Challenges to House Ethics Panel’s Legal Analysis,” Wall Street Journal, May 9, 1989.
60. Torricelli, interview with author, May 15, 2017.
61. Ringle, interview with author, November 24, 2015.
62. Small, interview with author, July 8, 2019.
63. Ringle, interview with author, November 24, 2015.
64. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 72.
65. “Dear Friend of Law and Order,” 1987, box 678, File: John Mack, NGP. The letter included news clippings: “Woman Assaulted,” Northern Virginia Sun, August 30, 1973; “Woman Left for Dead; Man Held,” Washington Star News, August 30, 1973.
66. Dave Montgomery, “Shadow of Violence Haunts Wright’s Top Aide,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, August 2, 1987.
67. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 72.
68. Edward Walsh, “The House Speaker’s Team,” Washington Post, March 17, 1987.
69. Mary Hadar, interview with author, December 8, 2015.
70. Face the Nation, June 12, 1988, transcript, box 672, File: Wright, NGP.
71. Ringle, interview with author, June 30, 2019.
72. Michael Oreskes, “Wright Aide’s Past Shocks Capitol,” New York Times, May 5, 1989; Ken Ringle, “Memory and Anger: A Victim’s Story,” Washington Post, May 4, 1989.
73. Eleanor Clift, “The Protégé and the Victim,” Newsweek, May 15, 1989, 38.
74. Rehm recounts this story in Diane Rehm, Finding My Voice (Herndon, Va.: Capital Books, 1999), 183–86.
75. Clift, “The Protégé and the Victim.”
76. Suzanne Garment, Scandal: The Culture of Mistrust in American Politics (New York: Random House, 1991), 237.
77. Van Brocklin to Gingrich, May 10, 1989, box 678, File: Mack, John, NGP.
78. Schroeder, interview with author, August 17, 2018.
79. Don Phillips, “Top Wright Aide Quits over Criminal Record,” Washington Post, May 12, 1989.
80. Karen Hosler, “Wright Aide Quits Post After Uproar over Assault,” Baltimore Sun, May 12, 1989.
81. Hosler, “Wright Aide Quits Post after Uproar over Assault.”
82. Kim Mattingly, “Hill Women Help Push Mack Out,” Roll Call, May 15, 1989.
83. Editorial, “The Departure of John Mack,” Washington Post, May 13, 1989.
84. Richard Cohen, “Is Congress Deaf?” Washington Post, May 16, 1989, www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1989/05/16/is-congress-deaf/f6129e7f-a22f-4421-8182-506d0d747171.
85. Phillips, “Top Wright Aide Quits over Criminal Record.”
86. Oldaker, interview with author, July 9, 2015.
87. Bill Minutaglio, “Power Failure,” Dallas Morning News, June 16, 1989.
88. David Hess, “’73 Attack Catches Up with Aide—Mack Resigns; Wright OKs It,” Daily Press, May 12, 1989.
89. Mona Charen, “John Mack Never Offered Compensation to Victim,” Moscow-Pullman Daily News, May 15, 1989.
90. “Wright/Mack Resignation,” NBC News, May 11, 1989.
91. “Capitol Offense,” Time, May 15, 1989, 38.
92. Hess, “’73 Attack Catches Up with Aide.”
93. Roger Simon, “The Deafening Silence on Capitol Hill,” Los Angeles Times, May 14, 1989.
94. Steve Daley, “’73 Crime Forces Wright Aide to Quit,” Chicago Tribune, May 12, 1989.
95. Andrea Dworkin, “Political Callousness on Violence Toward Women,” Los Angeles Times, May 14, 1989.
96. Phillips, “Top Wright Aide Quits over Criminal Record.”
97. National Republican Congressional Committee, “Why Does Coelho Defend Men Who Assault Women?,” May 4, 1989, box 678, File: John Mack, NGP.
98. Robin Toner, “In Fighting Democrats, Almost Anything Goes on the Republican Campaign Committees,” New York Times, May 15, 1989.
99. Dan Balz and Tom Kenworthy, “Wright Probe Puts House Leaders in Awkward Spot,” Washington Post, May 9, 1989.
100. Karen Hosler and Nancy J. Schwerzler, “Legal Team of Embattled House Speaker Seeks Dismissal of Ethics Charges,” Baltimore Sun, May 9, 1989.
101. “Statement of John P. Mack,” May 11, 1989, box 678, File: Mack, John, NGP.
102. “Wright Aide Resigns 1 Week After Beaten Woman Tells Story,” Los Angeles Times, May 11, 1989; Phillips, “Top Wright Aide Quits over Criminal Record.”
103. Daley, “’73 Crime Forces Wright Aide to Quit”; David Hess, “Aide Quits Wright Staff After Publicized Attack,” Detroit Free Press, May 12, 1989. See also “A Washington Morality Tale,” U.S. News & World Report, May 22, 1989.
104. Robin Toner, “Wright Aide Quits Amid Furor on ’73 Crime,” New York Times, May 12, 1989.
105. Lloyd Grove, “Wright Wing Rally,” Washington Post, May 11, 1989.
106. Tom Kenworthy, “Ethics Probe and Loss of Top Aide Put Speaker’s Resilience to the Test,” Washington Post, May 13, 1989.
107. E. J. Dionne Jr., “Coelho Says Bonds Were Bought for Him,” New York Times, May 15, 1989.
108. Charles R. Babcock, “Coelho Changes Account of Investment,” Washington Post, May 14, 1989.
109. Sara Fritz and Richard Meyer, “Coelho Targeted by GOP for House Ethics Inquiry,” Los Angeles Times, May 20, 1989.
110. Rollins, interview with author, May 29, 2018.
111. Michael Oreskes, “The No. 3 Democrat: In Surprising Decision, He Speaks of Sparing His Party Turmoil,” New York Times, May 27, 1989.
112. “Stop GOP Attacks, Coelho Tells Bush,” Newsday, May 29, 1989.
113. Tom Kenworthy and Dan Balz, “Stunned Democrats Try to Regroup,” Washington Post, May 28, 1989.
114. Sara Fritz and William J. Eaton, “Coelho to Resign in Face of Probe; Party in ‘Disarray,’” Los Angeles Times, May 27, 1989.
Chapter 7: Gingrich on Top
1. “House Committee Stakeout,” C-SPAN video archives, May 18, 1989.
2. Josh Getlin, “Wright Probe Is Gridlocking House, Michel Complains,” Los Angeles Times, May 18, 1989.
3. Conservative Campaign Fund, “Help Put Jim Wright on Trial!,” May 1989, box 675, File: Right Wing, JWA.
4. William Eaton, “No Outcry for House Members to Punish Speaker,” Los Angeles Times, April 23, 1989; Mike Sante and David Hess, “Democrats Considering What to Do About Speaker’s Growing Problems,” Austin American, May 18, 1989.
5. Michael Oreskes, “Gloom on Wright Shakes Gathering of Key Democrats,” New York Times, May 18, 1989, www.nytimes.com/1989/05/18/us/gloom-on-wright-shakes-gathering-of-key-democrats.html.
6. David Lauter, “Public Not Interested in
Wright Case, Poll Finds,” Los Angeles Times, May 18, 1989.
7. Paul West, “Wright Grows More Isolated as Crisis Deepens,” Baltimore Sun, May 21, 1989.
8. R. Douglas Arnold, The Logic of Congressional Action (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1990).
9. Sharp, interview with author, November 2, 2016; “IRS Probe Report Surprises Wright,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 19, 1989.
10. Sharp, interview with author; David Rogers, “Wright’s Financial Footing Is Stronger on Eve of Battle Against Major Charges,” Wall Street Journal, May 23, 1989.
11. Editorial, “It’s Time for Wright to Step Down,” Chicago Tribune, May 21, 1989.
12. Editorial, “Sufficient Reason to Go,” Los Angeles Times, May 23, 1989.
13. William Oldaker to Julian Dixon and John Myers, May 10, 1989. Documents in possession of the author.
14. “House Committee Stakeout,” May 18, 1989, C-SPAN video archives.
15. Gingrich and Van Brocklin to Steve Gunderson, May 23, 1989, box 664, File: Pre-disciplinary Hearings, NGP.
16. William J. Eaton, “Wright Defense Scheduled Tuesday,” Los Angeles Times, May 19, 1989.
17. The hearings are available in the C-SPAN video archives.
18. Robert L. Jackson, “Wright Case Lawyers: Study in Contrasts,” Los Angeles Times, May 24, 1989.
19. “Ethics Charges Against House Speaker Wright,” May 23, 1989, C-SPAN video archives.
20. “Excerpts of Hearing on Wright,” Chicago Tribune, May 24, 1989.
21. Michael Oreskes, “Wright Lawyer Asks Ethics Panel to Throw Out Main Accusation,” New York Times, May 24, 1989.
22. Susan Feeney, “Panel Asked to Drop 2 Wright Charges—Opposing Lawyers Display Styles as Disparate as Their Arguments,” Dallas Morning News, May 24, 1989.
23. Robin Toner, “Performers Show Style in a Theater of Careers,” New York Times, May 24, 1989.
24. William J. Eaton, “‘Stand in the Way of Lynch Mob’ and Drop Charges, Wright Lawyer Asked,” Los Angeles Times, May 24, 1989.
25. Mary McGrory, “Brilliance, All in Vain,” Washington Post, May 25, 1989.
26. Walter Goodman, “Wright’s Bad Fortune Is Turning into Good Viewing,” New York Times, May 25, 1989.
27. Don Phillips, “Broadcast Confined to Background,” Washington Post, May 24, 1989.
28. Toner, “Performers Show Style in a Theater of Careers.”
29. Tom Kenworthy, “Wright Lawyer Urges Panel to Shun ‘Lynch Mob’ Mentality,” Washington Post, May 24, 1989.
30. Paul West, “Panel Gives No Hint of Dropping Wright Charges,” Baltimore Sun, May 24, 1989.
31. Peter Osterlund and Nancy J. Schwerzler, “All of Capitol Hill Glued to TV Hearings on Wright,” Baltimore Sun, May 24, 1989.
32. “Speaker Wright & Atty. Stephen Susman,” May 23, 1989, C-SPAN Video Archive.
33. Elaine Kamarck, “Will the Jim Wright Affair Rub Off on All Incumbents?,” Newsday, May 22, 1989.
34. Robert Shogan, “Rush to Judge Politicians Held Damaging to Nation,” Los Angeles Times, June 2, 1989.
35. John M. Barry, The Ambition and the Power: A True Story of Washington (New York: Viking, 1989), 748.
36. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 748–49.
37. “Foley Could Be Speaker by Next Week,” Seattle Times, May 25, 1989; Jackie Koszczuk, “Behind the Scenes at the Wright Negotiations—the Chain of Events That Led to the Collapse of Deal for His Exit,” Seattle Times, May 28, 1989.
38. Steven Komarow, “Wright Is Offering to Quit Post as Speaker,” St. Paul Pioneer Press, May 25, 1989.
39. Steve Daley, “Wright’s Core of Support Melts,” Chicago Tribune, May 25, 1989.
40. McGuire, interview with author, July 13, 2019.
41. Barry, The Ambition and the Power, 751–52.
42. Jim Wright, Worth It All: My War for Peace (Washington, D.C.: Brassey’s, 1993), 234–35.
43. Myron S. Waldman, “Wright ‘Liberated’ By His Decision to Quit Congress,” Newsday, June 2, 1989.
44. Ronald Ostrow, “Justice Department Ponders Action Against Wright,” Los Angeles Times, April 7, 1989.
45. “Justice Department Plans Its Own Review of Wright,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 11, 1989.
46. Petri, interview with author, August 1, 2016.
47. Nancy J. Schwerzler, “Wright Decision Was Influenced by Vote Count,” Baltimore Sun, June 1, 1989.
48. Jim Wright, Balance of Power: Presidents and Congress from the Era of McCarthy to the Age of Gingrich (Atlanta: Turner, 1996), 489.
49. E. J. Dionne Jr., “G.O.P. Keeping Up Ethics Pressure on the Democrats,” New York Times, May 29, 1989.
50. Michael Oreskes, “War Drums in the House,” New York Times, May 28, 1989.
51. Paul Houston, “Partisan Push Threatened in Ethics Problems,” Los Angeles Times, May 29, 1989.
52. Jim Drinkard, “‘I Know What I Should Do,’ Wright Says,” Charlotte Observer, May 31, 1989.
53. Basil Talbott, “Wright Might Get ‘Reprieve’—Rep. Pepper Death Clouds Action,” Chicago Sun Times, May 31, 1989; Michael Oreskes, “Wright Wrestles with Decision on Quitting House,” Daily News of Los Angeles, May 31, 1989.
54. Don Phillips and Dan Balz, “A House Divided by Partisan Hostilities,” Washington Post, June 1, 1989.
55. Robin Toner, “Climax to a Storm,” New York Times, June 1, 1989.
56. Seth Kantor, “‘Let Me Give You Back This Job You Gave to Me’: Besieged Wright to Quit Congress,” Austin American-Statesman, June 1, 1989.
57. Phillips and Balz, “A House Divided by Partisan Hostilities.”
58. Phillips and Balz, “A House Divided by Partisan Hostilities.”
59. Phillips and Balz, “A House Divided by Partisan Hostilities.”
60. Phillips and Balz, “A House Divided By Partisan Hostilities.”
61. Tom Shales, “Jim Wright’s Final Hour in the Spotlight,” Washington Post, June 1, 1989.
62. Paul West, “Texas Democrat, Under Fire, Also Leaving Congress,” Baltimore Sun, June 1, 1989.
63. William Clayton Jr., “The Speaker Steps Down—a Speaker Makes His Last Speech,” Houston Chronicle, June 1, 1989.
64. Brown, interview with author, August 4, 2016.
65. “Gingrich Should Cool It, GOP Minority Leader Says,” Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1989.
66. Steve Daley and Elaine Povich, “House Speaker Wright Resigns,” Chicago Tribune, June 1, 1989.
67. “Reactions to Wright’s Resignation,” C-SPAN video archives, May 31, 1989.
68. Newt Gingrich, Handwritten Notes, June 1, 1989, box 1093, File: Wright Investigation, NGP.
69. Newt Gingrich, Handwritten Notes, 1 June 1989, box 1093, File: Wright Investigation, NGP.
70. “Speaker Wright’s Resignation,” May 31, 1989, C-SPAN video archives.
71. Shales, “Jim Wright’s Final Hour in the Spotlight.”
72. William J. Eaton, “Wright Resigns, Urges End to This ‘Mindless Cannibalism,’” Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1989; Michael Oreskes, “Turmoil in Congress; An ‘Evil Wind’ of Fear is Felt in House,” New York Times, June 1, 1989, www.nytimes.com/1989/06/01/us/turmoil-in-congress-an-evil-wind-of-fear-is-felt-in-house.html.
73. Susan Feeney, “Leader’s Fall Leaves His Colleagues Somber—‘What Is It You Can Say?’ Supporter Asks,” Dallas Morning News, June 1, 1989.
Chapter 8: Mindless Cannibalism
1. Steve Daley and Elaine Povich, “House Speaker Wright Resigns,” Chicago Tribune, June 1, 1989.
2. “Reactions to Wright’s Resignation,” C-SPAN video archives, May 31, 1989.
3. “Reactions to Wright’s Resignation,” C-SPAN video archives, May 31, 1989.
4. “Reactions to Wright’s Resignation,” C-SPAN video a
rchives, May 31, 1989.
5. Peter Osterlund, “Wright Resigns as House Speaker,” Baltimore Sun, June 1, 1989.
6. Editorial, “Speaker Wright and the Cannibals,” New York Times, June 1, 1989.
7. “Wright Resignation,” NBC Evening News, May 31, 1989, VTA.
8. Editorial, “Jim Wright Resigns,” Washington Post, June 1, 1989.
9. Don Phillips, “Gingrich Defends Part in Wright’s Fall,” Washington Post, June 3, 1989.
10. Don Phillips, “Republicans Bridle at Wright Speech,” Washington Post, June 2, 1989.
11. Phillips, “Gingrich Defends Part in Wright’s Fall.”
12. “Gingrich Should Cool It, GOP Minority Leader Says,” Los Angeles Times, June 1, 1989.
13. David Beers, “Newt Gingrich: Master of Disaster,” Mother Jones, September 1, 1989, 43.
14. “Stop Mudslinging, Gephardt Urges,” Desert News, June 15, 1989; Steve Daley, “House Democrats Rebuild at Top,” Chicago Tribune, June 15, 1989.
15. George F. Will, “Character Assassination Is No Substitute for Political Purpose,” Hartford Courant, June 1, 1989.
16. Mark Goodwin to Republican Leaders, May 31, 1989, box 674, File: Wright Resign, NGP.
17. James Pierobon, “Foley Tries to Quell Partisan Rancor,” Houston Chronicle, June 7, 1989.
18. Nancy Traver, “The Republicans’ Pit Bull,” Time, June 12, 1989, 22.
19. Myra MacPherson, “Newt Gingrich, Point Man in a House Divided,” Washington Post, June 12, 1989.
20. Tom Morganthau, Howard Fineman, and Eleanor Clift, “Ethics Wars: Frenzy on the Hill,” Newsweek, June 12, 1989, 14–18.
21. Sara Fritz, “As Speaker, Foley Plans to Quell Partisan Fights,” Los Angeles Times, June 4, 1989.
22. “Tom Foley: Out of the Liberal Closet,” June 1989, box 674, File: Wright Resigns, NGP.
23. Ashley to Bush, June 7, 1987, GHWBP.
24. Amy Bayer, “GOP National Panel Gives Atwater Vote of Confidence,” Worchester Telegram & Gazette, June 17, 1989.
25. Beers, “Newt Gingrich: Master of Disaster.”
26. Interview Paul Weyrich, “The Long March of Newt Gingrich,” Frontline, PBS, January 16, 1996, www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newt/newtintwshtml/weyrich.html.
27. Clarence Page, “Talk Like a Newt with the Gingrich Diatribe Dictionary,” Chicago Tribune, September 19, 1990; GOPAC, “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control,” 1990. There is a link to this document in the online publication of David Corn and Tim Murphey, “Gingrich in His Own Words,” Mother Jones, April 7, 2011, www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/04/newt-gingrich-greatest-rhetorical-hits/2.
Burning Down the House Page 41