“We paid (Gingrich) $40,000, and this gentleman praised
private equity more fulsomely than I could ever do it.” 
 – Paul Levy, managing director of a top private equity firm

In a segment on Bloomberg TV earlier today, Paul Levy, managing director of JLL Partners, surprised a group of business reporters by portraying Newt Gingrich as a flip-flopper – and worse. Levy’s company is one of the top private equity firms in the nation, specializing in leveraged buyouts.
He started out the interview by telling the Bloomberg audience that some of Mitt Romney’s former co-workers at Bain Capital should come forward and defend the candidates actions in the private equity business.
 “As I said to somebody the other day,” Levy said, “Mitt Romney is playing with a strong suit. Bain Capital is a fantastic firm; it has a great reputation. I’ve met several of (their) people along the way — they are wonderful people, they are thoughtful people.
“Bain is known for its careful analysis, the work that they do, they are an outgrowth of Bain Consulting, It (campaign rhetoric by Gingrich) makes no sense. The limited partner community, the investment community, knows how good Bain is. They have rewarded Bain with higher-than-average incentive fees, and God bless them.”
Then he added this:
“And the thing that bothers me about Newt Gingrich, if I may, Newt Gingrich spoke at my annual meeting two years ago. We paid him $40,000, and this gentleman praised private equity more fulsomely than I could ever do it.”
When the reporters asked if Levy had any proof that Gingrich had spoken to one of the major firms engaged in “vulture capitalism” (the common phrase on the campaign trail), Levy stunned the reporters. Here is that portion of the Bloomberg transcript, as supplied by the Romney campaign:
Paul Levy: “I can give you the check. Ok? A copy of the check.”
Bloomberg’s Erik Schatzker: “The canceled check?”
Levy: “Yeah. We paid to the Washington Speakers Bureau for Newt Gingrich to come and speak. He was great, he gave a great evening, everybody had fun, he fielded a lot of questions, he gave us a lot of time. But nobody praised private equity, risk taking, –”
Bloomberg’s Stephanie Ruhle: “Wow.”
Levy: “– capital, more fulsomely than Newt Gingrich.”