Tue, Aug 31, 2004 4:22pm ET

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Gingrich: George Soros "wants to spend $75 million defeating George W. Bush because Soros wants to legalize heroin"

In a discussion on the August 30 edition of FOX News Channel's Hannity & Colmes of unregulated "soft money" contributions by 527 groups, former speaker of the House and FOX News Channel political contributor Newt Gingrich claimed that financier and philanthropist George Soros "wants to spend $75 million defeating [President] George W. Bush because Soros wants to legalize heroin."

Gingrich's remark, aired live from the Republican National Convention, echoed a smear of Soros made one day earlier by current Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert on the August 29 edition of FOX Broadcasting Company's FOX News Sunday: "I don't know where George Soros gets his money. I don't know where -- if it comes overseas or from drug groups or where it comes from. ... George Soros has been for legalizing drugs in this country. So, I mean, he's got a lot of ancillary interests out there." When asked by host Chris Wallace if Hastert thought Soros "may be getting money from the drug cartel," Hastert responded, "I'm saying I don't know where groups -- could be people who support this type of thing. I'm saying we don't know."

—A.S.

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