House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Saturday he considered resigning because of the bad press he attracted from his book contract with publisher HarperCollins.
"No one can get up every day and take the kind of totally dishonest cheap shots that we take and not wonder sometimes why you keep doing it," the Georgia Republican told reporters after a town hall meeting in the Atlanta suburb of Roswell."It is, frankly, disheartening to see the level of disinformation that passes for news in this country."
Gingrich's best-seller, "To Renew America," became the focus of a House ethics investigation after Gingrich agreed to a $4.5 million contract with HarperCollins. The publisher's owner, Australian-born media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, had an interest in legislation that was before Congress at the time.
Bowing to criticism, Gingrich turned down the advance and accepted standard royalties. He also agreed to turn over royalties to his charity "Earning-by-Learning," which gives poor children money for each book they read.
The 52-year-old conservative, who orchestrated last year's Republican takeover of Congress, said he thought about resigning last summer in the best interests of both himself and his wife.
"I thought about quitting because of the routine, vicious smears that Marianne and I have to live with," he said in a question-and-answer session with about 110 constituents.
"You just look at it and you think to yourself: Why put your family through this? Why allow yourself to be a target for this kind of dishonest coverage?"