But in 1992, with Republican prospects fading, Smith felt an urge to do more than give and raise money.  From his contacts in the party, he knew that reporters in Arkansas had tried and failed to confirm several potentially damaging stories about Clinton.  Turning to Gingrich's closest advisers, Smith devised a plan to get those stories into print by paying for their publication.

He enlisted Eddie Mahe, top Washington political consultant and long-time Gingrich confident; Hugh Newton, a prominent conservative public relations executive in Washington; Daniel Swillinger, a GOPAC lawyer and Gingrich confidant whom Smith hired to advise him on federal election law; and E. Mark Braden, another lawyer with ties to Gingrich who had formerly served as general counsel to the Republican National Committee.

Especially close to Gingrich was Mahe, who had volunteered in the Georgian's first, unsuccessful congressional bid in 1974, and whose far-right allegiances were an important influence on the Republican maverick.

Richard W. Porter, a Bush White House aide working on opposition research for the Bush-Quayle campaign, also consulted informally with Smith on his project.  After the election, Porter would go on to a partnership at the Chicago-based law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, where he would continue assisting Smith on his projects -- where he would eventually play a role in both the Paula Jones lawsuit and the Monica Lewinsky affair.

Conason & Lyons, p. 59.