Disregard for Rules Quotes
Newt Gingrich, then speaker of the House, for years had used campaign donation money which was supposed to be used for promoting Republican candidates and political positions, to do so by purchasing Gingrich’s books with which to educate and inform people. The speaker had written them for a course in politics and was paid a significant amount for each sale. So Gingrich used campaign donation money to implement programs which happened to enrich him personally. The House had a rule limiting the amount of money that any Congressperson could earn beyond their salaries and Gingrich had gone way over that amount as a result of his book sales. After denying anything was amiss, he finally admitted to a technical violation of the House rules, but argued that he had broken no laws and should retain his Speakership. He was forced to resign, but later tried an unsuccessful run for the Republican Presidential nomination.
After it was revealed that his apartment was used for purposes of male prostitution, the congressman called for an ethics committee hearing on his own behavior, adding:
Justice Waite asserted that religious claims exempted no one, because constitutional guarantees of religious freedom had to do with beliefs only, and did not protect these actions
At the time, there were no civilians staff such as the Assistant Secretaries of the individual services and Assistant secretaries of Defense. All military staff work, policy and operations, were done completely by military personnel.
