Newt Gingrich Scoffs at Jan. 6 Committee’s Use of Former ABC News Chief, Calls Him a ‘Hollywood Producer’ (Video)
Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and contributor to Fox News, said in a segment on the network Monday that Americans were too smart to fall for the Jan. 6 committee and the messages created by their “Hollywood producer” as the panel meets again in advance of more hearings this month.
Only the consultant Gingrich was referring to, whether mistaken or purposely misleading Fox News viewers, is in fact not a Hollywood producer but instead a former longtime broadcast journalist.
The topic was broached when show host Brian Kilmeade asked Gingrich whether the committee had reached out for his potential testimony, as a former adviser to Donald Trump during his presidency.
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“Well, my attorneys are working all that out. I’m not directly engaged with the committee,” Gingrich said. “But I will say, there has never been a more blatant misuse of the Justice Department this close to an election. You know, the ground rule used to be that 60 days out they stopped all this stuff precisely to not try to influence an election.”
The Justice Department, a Cabinet department as part of the federal government’s executive branch, is not directly involved with the congressional hearings. But the DOJ does traditionally pause politcally sensitive investigations for two months before midterm elections.
“Instead, you have a deliberate targeting process underway to intimidate Republican donors, Republican candidates, even Republican lawyers,” Gingrich continued. “We haven’t — this is as close to a police state tactic as we have ever seen in this country. And, of course, this totally, I think, inappropriate, it’s not really a congressional committee. It’s a show trial in the Stalinist tradition.”
Gingrich then breaks down the latest developments from the committee, which took a recess in July and was set to reconvene this month.
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“They are apparently sitting down this week with their Hollywood producer,” Gingrich said of James Goldston, who in fact is instead a longtime broadcast network news executive. “Think about this, they’re sitting down with their Hollywood producer to plan the next two months. This is an absurdity, and Americans should be insulted that these people think they are stupid enough to fall for this kind of thing.”
Goldston, a former ABC News president, was brought in by the committee to draw from his news-gathering and storytelling skills and inject a touch of drama to the TV presentation of the committee hearings, an effort that was more apparent with each broadcast. Goldston stepped down from his role at ABC News in March 2021 after 17 years with the network, seven of which were as president.
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Fox News did not immediately respond to a request from TheWrap for comment on Gingrich’s remarks.
The hearings were aired live in primetime and daytime and featured gripping testimony, as well as pre-produced pieces, exclusive images and surveillance footage from the U.S. Capitol riots, and clips from depositions.
Watch video of the Fox News segment at the top of this post.
