Gingrich campaign plays defense on ties to Freddie Mac

MSNBC reports:

Newt Gingrich found his past work with Freddie Mac under scrutiny during last night's presidential debate, where the former House Speaker denied ever having lobbied for the mortgage giant.

CNBC debate moderator John Harwood pressed Gingrich as to why his firm received $300,000 from Freddie Mac in 2006 -- two years before the mortgage finance company was forced into government conservatorship under the weight of subprime loans. The question was maybe the toughest Gingrich has received this campaign cycle.

But Gingrich said he was only offering advice in his capacity as a historian, and he denied lobbying against pressure from the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress for Freddie Mac to scale back its backstopping of mortgages.

Because Freddie Mac needed advice from a historian! Nice try Newt.