Gingrich ‘Loophole’ Offers Lobbyist Access for Cash - Bloomberg

Testifying before Senate committees in 2003 and 2006, Newt Gingrich commanded attention as a former House speaker. He used the opportunities to share his vision of the future of health care -- and to mention a few clients. Both times he singled out HealthTrio LLC, an electronic health-care record company and an early member of Gingrich’s Center for Health Transformation. As a member, the Denver-based company would have paid as much as $200,000 a year to the for- profit center. HealthTrio was one of dozens of companies that benefited from its relationship with Gingrich, who had access to lawmakers and opportunities to advance their interests that go well beyond those of a standard Washington lobbyist. Gingrich insists he never lobbied, and he never registered as a lobbyist. “I call it the Gingrich loophole,” said Howard Marlowe, president of the American League of Lobbyists in Alexandria, Virginia. “It’s not lobbying under the law, he’s right about that. It is lobbying in reality.”