The Hill News

Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich strongly denied lobbying on behalf of Freddie Mac despite reports that his consulting firm earned between $1.6 and $1.8 million in consulting fees from the mortgage giant, saying he merely offered "strategic advice" to the public corporation many conservatives blame for fueling the 2007 mortgage crisis.

"I just want to emphasize this: I did no lobbying, I did not reach out to Capitol Hill. I was not directly engaged in that way. I gave them advice on what they could do. But I’m not in the business of lobbying, period," Gingrich said Wednesday on the "Laura Ingraham Show."

Pressed to answer why his consulting firm had received so much from Freddie Mac, Gingrich said that his fees were in line with what many consulting firms made and acknowledged that his past experience as Speaker of the House probably helped secure this contract.

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