The Daily Beast: VP Wannabe Newt Gringrich Still $4.6 Million in Debt
Bankruptcy isn’t an option for Newt 2012, though. According to Larry Noble, general counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, candidates like Gingrich must either raise additional campaign funds to retire what their campaign owes or work with debtors on an agreement to partially pay or forgive the debt, which must be approved by the FEC. There’s no deadline for paying it off, Noble said, but eventually both the campaign and the people owed the money are in danger of breaking campaign finance laws.
“Eventually, if a company leaves debts outstanding it becomes an illegal contribution,” Noble said. “So the companies have to show they are making normal and usual efforts to collect the debt.”