Matt Lewis & The News

FEC reports released Friday show that former Speaker Newt Gingrich’s campaign has $1,030,627.82 in debt.

He blames his consultants who resigned en masse last month. But the Gingrich campaign’s FEC report shows that nearly half of the debt comes from charting private airplanes. More specifically, the campaign owes $451,946.00 to Moby Dick Airways LTD.

Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond tells me Gingrich was unaware of the financial situation until the consultants left. Once problems became apparent, Gingrich made several changes — “part of which included replacing private travel with commercial.”

Speaking of consultants, Gingrich’s campaign also paid them a lot of money this quarter, but still owes $20,616.80 to Norway Hill Associates Inc. — the consulting company headed by ex-Gingrich senior advisor Dave Carney.

Hammond tells me that Gingrich is not replacing most of his consultants, an additional step he is taking to turn around the campaign’s financial situation.