Gingrich Blasts Romney: ‘His People, Doing His Dirty Work’

KNOXVILLE, Iowa - Newt Gingrich wouldn't back down today on the negative attacks plaguing his campaign in Iowa and slowing his momentum in the polls.

Gingrich went after Mitt Romney's super PAC, even questioning Romney's involvement with the organization, saying Romney was being "misleading" about having no ability to stop his super PAC from sending out negative ads against Gingrich. Today on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Romney said he could "land in the big house," if he communicated with the super PAC supporting him.

"His comments today are palpably misleading, clearly false and are politics in its worst form," Gingrich said. "All he has to do is simple, he can say 'I condemn any further negative ads, I would ask that PAC to run only positive ads.' And anything short of that is baloney."

Gingrich read quotes from Romney to the crowd today from the former Massachusetts governor's appearance on "Morning Joe."

"I'm not allowed to communicate with the super PAC in any way, shape or form," Gingrich read Romney's words to the crowd.

"They set up these new entities, which I think is a disaster by the way. Campaign finance law has made a mockery of our campaign season. They really ought to let the campaigns raise the money. They need and get rid of the super PACs," Gingrich read from Romney's appearance on "Morning Joe."

Gingrich said Romney planned to spend $1 million in negative ads and added that he doesn't object to being outspent, but he objects to lies.

"What we've got to understand is these are his people, doing his ads, doing his dirty work, while he pretends to be above it," Gingrich said.

Gingrich also had a message for his super PACs: Solutions 2012/Time For Newt, which formed a couple of months ago, and Winning Our Future, which formed last week.

"Run only positive ads or I'll disown you," Gingrich said. "By the way, I said that publicly, where it's legal and it's quite clear and I'm sure that message will reach the PAC."

Winning Our Future is headed by former Gingrich employee Becky Burkett and just today, the PAC announced that former Gingrich 2012 campaign spokesman, Rick Tyler, who left the campaign during the mass exodus of staffers in June, was joining the super PAC.

Gingrich denied he had a problem with former staffers working for super PACs, as long as the candidate doesn't "pretend he doesn't know them."

"Look, if Rick Tyler decides he wants to do positive ads within the current law, then I encourage people to give money to this PAC, publicly," Gingrich said. "That's legal, within campaign finance laws."

Gingrich said if his PACs run negative ads, he will disown them and ask people not to fund them.

"Now the governor has a very easy way to do the same thing, and for him to say he couldn't find the people who gave that money, that he couldn't get them to put pressure on the PAC to be reasonable, it's just purely dishonest," Gingrich said.

Gingrich said earlier in the day of the consultants putting out the negative ads in Iowa that he thinks "they hire these guys who sit around and they get drunk and write ads."

"I'm fed up with it. They write lies, everyone of these people write lies," Gingrich said.