NEW YORK — The wife of a casino mogul who contributed $5 million to a "super PAC" supporting Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is matching that contribution, a person with knowledge of the contribution said Monday.
Miriam Adelson, the wife of Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson, is giving $5 million to Winning Our Future, an independent group supporting the former House speaker's presidential bid. An Adelson associate disclosed the contribution on condition of anonymity.
The Adelsons are close to Gingrich and have supported his political endeavors for many years. They have both made the maximum contribution to his campaign.
Super PACs can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to support or oppose a candidate as long as they do not coordinate directly with a campaign. Super PACs came about after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2010 significantly eased campaign finance restrictions.
Sheldon Adelson made his contribution to the pro-Gingrich super PAC in January, after Gingrich was battered with attack ads from Restore Our Future, a super PAC backing Mitt Romney. Gingrich, who had been leading in Iowa opinion polls in December, placed fourth in the state's caucuses and fourth in the New Hampshire primary after the surge in negative ads.
Winning Our Future stirred controversy when it purchased and aired a documentary highly critical of Romney's years at Bain Capital, a venture capital firm where he made his wealth. The film depicted Romney and the firm as heartless corporate raiders who destroyed countless jobs by buying and reorganizing companies. The film had many inaccuracies, and Gingrich called for it to be edited or taken down.
The associate said Miriam Adelson asked the group to use her money on ads that supported Gingrich and not on attack ads.
In response to Sheldon Adelson's concerns about the Nevada caucuses conflicting with the Jewish Sabbath, Republican officials said Monday that they were adding a special evening caucus session on Feb. 4 for Jewish voters who observe the Sabbath. The session was expected to delay the reporting of results by several hours.
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