Gingrich admits to affair during Lewinsky scandal

Newt Gingrich, the conservative who led the Republican revolution of the early 1990s, has admitted he was having an extramarital affair even as he called for the impeachment of Bill Clinton nine years ago over his dalliance with Monica Lewinsky.

Mr Gingrich came clean in an interview with the powerful Christian lobbyist James Dobson of Focus on the Family, confirming what had been a persistent rumour in political circles at the time. "The honest answer is yes," Mr Gingrich said in the interview. "There are times that I have fallen short of my own standards. There's certainly times when I've fallen short of God's standards."

Mr Gingrich left his first wife as she was recovering from cancer surgery and cheated on his second with a congressional aide who is now the third Mrs Gingrich. Mr Gingrich insisted, however, that he was not a hypocrite to try to bring down Mr Clinton.

"The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," he said. "I drew a line in my mind that said, 'Even though I run the risk of being deeply embarrassed ... I have no choice except to move forward and say that you cannot accept ... perjury in your highest officials."

The admission may have been an attempt to clear the air and test the mood of the Republican grassroots before he decides whether to make a run for the White House next year.

He remains popular, according to presidential opinion polls, and is a regular fixture on cable news discussion shows.

Mr Gingrich became Speaker of the House of Representatives after the Republicans swept the 1994 congressional elections. He described Mr Clinton at the time as "the enemy of normal Americans".

By 1998 - the year of Monica - Mr Gingrich was forced out of the speakership over a scandal involving misuse of tax-exempt political funds. Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine, was the most forthright of many Gingrich enemies who threatened at the time to make public the marital infidelity.

Mr Gingrich's short-lived successor as Speaker, Bob Livingston, had to resign after it turned out that he too had strayed from the marital path.