Al Franken: “Former Speaker Newt Gingrich pulled off a surprise win in South Carolina. But I would venture to guess it wouldn't have…”

“Former Speaker Newt Gingrich pulled off a surprise win in South Carolina. But I would venture to guess it wouldn't have happened if Mr. Gingrich's super PAC hadn't received a $5 million check from one guy, a multibillionaire from Las Vegas. This super PAC, also known as the group Winning Our Future, used the money to pay for attack ads against former Governor Mitt Romney. Just a few days ago, it was announced that the wife of this same billionaire wrote another $5 million check to Mr. Gingrich's super PAC to help him out in Florida. Now, I wish I could offer an example of a company writing a similar check, but as I mentioned before, there is just no way of knowing if they did or didn't because they don't have to disclose it and they can take steps to hide it. But this example of two $5 million checks from one couple who just happened to be willing to talk about their donations should show just how big we are talking about. This is very, very big money, and it is happening now. To be fair, Mr. Romney has his own super PAC called Restore Our Future, and it is currently outspending every other PAC in Florida by 20 to 1. I wish I could tell my colleagues how this is possible, but the first disclosure statement for this campaign season won't be out until the end of this month, and even then it will be hard to trace it back to individual companies or people through all the shell corporations and other PACs. This is only the beginning. Hold on to your hats.…”