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Newt Gingrich’s Campaign Bounces $500 Check

Newt Gingrich's bounced check for his primary filing fee is the least of his campaign finance troubles.

Newt Gingrich has turned a deaf ear on calls for him to end his White House bid. Now the question is whether he’ll turn a blind eye to his bank balance, which is pretty much sending the same message and the answer is, not likely. When news broke this week that a campaign bounced a $500 check for the filing fee to appear on Utah’s June 26 primary ballot, he dismissed it as just “one of those goofy things.”

 

“The account actually was closed by the time they processed it. It wasn't a question of money — that particular bank account was closed," the former House speaker told CNN on Wednesday.

 

It’s not Gingrich’s first experience bouncing checks. BuzzFeed has uncovered a 1992 ad run by his Republican primary opponent Herman Clark claiming that Gingrich bounced 22 checks worth $26,000 in his House bank account and a $9,000 check written to the IRS.

 

Set to the tune of “Old McDonald Had a Farm,” the ad states, “With a bounced check here and a pay raise there, here a check, there a check, everywhere a bounced check. Newt Gingrich wrote a rubber check to the IRS.”

 

Gingrich claims that the Utah matter has been resolved, but that’s not his biggest financial problem. His campaign is reportedly $4.5 million in debt. He has resorted to charging $50 to pose in photos with supporters. His primary donor, Nevada casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, has pledged to support Mitt Romney as the GOP nominee and recently said that Gingrich is “at the end of his line,” in his race for the nomination.

 

Given how stubbornly Gingrich is holding on to his quest, wife Calista may want to keep a tight grip on that famous Tiffany bling and $500,000 line of credit.

 

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(Photo: David Becker/Getty Images)

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