Infidelity of Newt Gingrich Forgiven by Falwell

In a televised interview on Friday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted to having an extramarital affair. The affair had taken place during the time he was leading the charge against Clinton's affair. Reverend Jerry Falwell has praised Gingrich for admitting his sin, and compared him to Ronald Reagan.

The former Speaker of the House appeared on the evangelical television program "Focus on the Family" on Friday. During the program, Gingrich admitted to the show's founder, James Dobson, that he had an extensive affair during the 1990s with a congressional aide. Gingrich, now 63, is 20 years older than the former aide.

The controversy surrounding this revelation stems from the fact that, during the same period as his own affair, Gingrich was leading the charge against then-President Bill Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Anticipating that he would be labeled a hypocrite, Gingrich attacked this point head-on and stated that he should not be considered a hypocrite because he was just doing his job in the Clinton impeachment case. He also pointed out that Clinton was facing charges for not telling the truth to a federal judge, not for the affair itself.

"The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," Gingrich said during the televised interview.

Opponents of Newt Gingrich, who could very well be a 2008 presidential candidate, are already stating that this is nothing more than a thinly veiled excuse. Critics of the former House Speaker point out that it was entirely hypocritical of Gingrich to appropriate more than $40 Million to Ken Starr's investigation prior to Clinton's appearance before a federal judge.