Newt's 500K creditline @ Tiffany's sounds like a vehicle for money laundering and undeclared cash.

[elehhhhna]

Who PAID this account?

I know that bribes are less traceable if they're gift cards, or open "credit" lines, and letting the contractor pay your kids tuition -- & if your child attends a private school owned by a church, the contractor deducts the bribe --but I digress.

Who paid Newt's bill?

I looked up some pics & he and the wife aren't blinged out -- not even at formal events... So where's the jewelery?

Schieffer: "What did you buy?"

Newt: "Nothing."

He was not lying.

[juajen]

1. Sounds to me like a guilty husband bribing a woman to not leave him

for another infidelity. Just sayin'.

[Tanuki]

2. Maybe it went to pay for that platinum helmet

the current Mrs. Gingrich appears to be wearing on her head

[elehhhhna]

4. either that or he's Goldmember

[Raine]

3. That was my first question too

there is something that stinks here.

[Old and In the Way]

5. These aren't cheap, you know.

<> Selling out this country is a very profitable enterprise for the political class.

[malaise]

6. It's delish

$500,000? Damn!

[elehhhhna]

10. 500 K REVOLVING, no interest! how often did that 500K turn over?

how fast?

It's intriguing.

[Bigmack]

7. What happens...

if somebody gives The Salamander $25K. If he pockets it, he's in deep shit. But what happens if somebody gives the Amphibian a Tiffany bracelet. If he "returns" it to Tiffany's and keeps the cash, does that put enough (paperwork) distance between the bribe-er and the bribe-ee?

My mind doesn't do the kind of corkscrew shit those people do, but it sure sounds like it could be a kickback/bribe/whatever.

[jmowreader]

25. Interesting theory with a $500,000 problem

You don't need a $500,000 revolving charge account to return $25,000 bracelets.

I also don't think it would put enough paper between the counterparties to bribery: the sales receipts for things like $25,000 bracelets bear the name and address of the purchaser. Someone would notice if Newt Gingrich was returning things that were purchased by people not named Gingrich.

[Ineeda]

8. You could be right but

I've seen several photos of the missus wearing pretty substantial diamond necklaces and multi-strand pearls. You know those baubles are top quality and dey don't come cheap. And maybe he'd been 'generous' to some other woman/women. If he'd simply answered, "I make a good income and contribute to the economy by spending it in the good ol' USA," it wouldn't be such an issue. Funny that he insisted that "he paid no interest" as if that was the most important aspect. (I've never heard of a no-interest charge account, especially one that allowed such a high balance.)

[Old and In the Way]

19. He's not very bright is he?

Does he think $500K revolving charge accounts with no interest is normal business for the bottom 95%? He made it sound like that made the whole thing more reasonable...to me, it just made it worse. Who gives a $500K loans with no interest? There's a quid pro quo hiding in the woodpile somewhere.

[Missy Vixen]

28. How could he qualify for a half million dollar charge account

with his salary?

Wouldn't it be considered unsecured credit, since it was not a house loan or car note? Isn't the standard of creditworthiness much higher as a result?

Most important, at least to me: There's a limit of how much jewelry one woman can possibly wear. Mrs. Gingrich has expressed in print a preference for pearls. $500K is probably ten South Seas pearl ropes, IMHO.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

9. NO DOUBT

It just CANNOT be legal to have a cool half mil revolving credit account at Tiffanys, fer petes sake,
with NO interest. This is just beyond screwy. I want copies of the bills, I want to see what he bought.

[Sonoman]

11. "We had a revolving fund."

"It was a standard, no-interest account."

"What did you buy?"

"Well, nothing."

Yeah right, Liar.

Sonoman

[Lars39]

12. Kick and recommend.

This needs to be thoroughly explored. :evilgrin:

[ThoughtCriminal]

13. At best, somebody way out of touch

with us peasants.

[NNN0LHI]

14. Wouldn't it be easier to tell him to bet 5 grand of some long shot at Pimlico?

The nag that wins. That is the way they do it around here.

Don

[Lint Head]

15. That's what rich pricks do.

[aquart]

16. Have you seen the English King flatware?

$480 a place setting? Doesn't have to be jewelry.

But I do believe that money laundering is probably the correct answer.

[salin]

17. Yes, most people have a 500K line of credit at Tiffany's.

just like the momentum behind your campaign is grassroots. The latter position is likely to get the former situation a lot of unappreciated (by you) attention. Yes, Newt most 'everyman' has a half million line of credit at Tiffany's. *cough* Just a prediction: you would have done better to stay in marginal obscurity after your resignation.

[Missy Vixen]

29. Just throwing this one out there

Where's he getting his money?

What kind of salary would one have to make a year to qualify for a half-million dollar charge account at Tiffany? I'm thinking there's less than a hundred people in the USA they'd allow that for, IMHO.

[salin]

30. point well taken. On another thread I read that his wife worked on a committee

that served their (Tiffany's) interest - so perhaps a 'favor'? Not terribly common, nor everyman, nor ethical (but ethics have never been a strong point.)

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

18. Maybe it's part of a pre-nup? He cheats and she gets sprees at Tiffany's?

[Bigmack]

27. Cheats?... You mean with ... like... animals or something, right? nt

[coalition_unwilling]

20. Tiffany's is a publicly-traded company (ticker symbol = 'TIF'). I do not

own any shares in it but, if I did, I would be contacting their corporate investor relations office to find out why in the fuck they are giving a $500K credit line to anyone and whether that credit line is secured against hard collateral or unsecured. Depending on their answers, I might sell my shares were I a shareholder.

I would not be happy that Newt had a $500K line of credit, unless it was secured against his house or his first born or some such.

I might also be contacting the enforcement division of the SEC.

[Bozita]

22. Could you imagine Tiffany's as THE place to launder money?

I could, but then, I don't want to be accused of using more than the average amount of tinfoil.

:fistbump:

[coalition_unwilling]

23. I was flashing on the Nixon slush fund not from Watergate days but

from when he was a Senator and had just been announced as Eisenhower's running mate (the slush fund that occasioned the infamous 'Checkers' speech).

Not sure why that image popped into my head, as Tiffany's is the opposite of the "respectable Republican cloth coat" that Nixon avowed that Pat always wore.

[SpiralHawk]

21. sniff

fishy

[backscatter712]

24. Colbert said it was because Newt bought engagement rings in bulk! n/t

[jmowreader]

26. I don't think so

This asshole is a known serial philanderer. He also has a shitload of money.

Any woman contemplating marriage to Newt Gingrich knows she's eventually going to have to divorce him on grounds of adultery, so the best thing to do here is to use the two years you've got with him to stock your jewelry box with the highest-quality accessories.