Embattled Gingrich Slams Critics of His Book Deal : Politics: Speaker says he is disgusted by Democrats’ attacks. He concedes that his foes are succeeding in diverting his focus from GOP agenda.

WASHINGTON — Declaring himself sickened and disgusted by criticism of his controversial book deal, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) exhorted his party Friday to ignore the attacks and concentrate on forging a “new partnership” with the American electorate.

The embattled lawmaker tacitly acknowledged, however, that his critics may be succeeding to some degree in diverting his attention and the public’s from the sweeping economic and social changes that the newly dominant GOP hopes to achieve.

In remarks at a Republican National Committee luncheon, Gingrich delivered his most fervent counterattack so far, drawing his biggest ovation with a slam at First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Gingrich said that the $4.5-million book advance he first accepted and then rejected would have been turned down by some “important Democrats,” who would have told themselves: “I can make too much money in cattle futures.” The comment was an allusion to the nearly $100,000 that the First Lady earned in much-criticized commodities trading more than a decade before her husband became President.

Gingrich also labeled as “a crook” former House Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.), who resigned in 1989 amid an ethical furor over a book deal, but who never faced criminal charges. Gingrich’s role in spotlighting Wright’s conduct has added to the intensity of the criticism from Democrats of Gingrich’s own book arrangement with HarperCollins, a publishing firm owned by Rupert Murdoch.

The Australian-born media magnate is ensnared in a dispute over foreign control of his Fox television stations that eventually may have to be resolved by legislation.

The Speaker’s remarks came as 10 holdover members of the House Ethics Committee were named to investigate contributions to a college course that Gingrich teaches and possibly to look into his book deal.

To avoid a conflict of interest over the appointment of the panel of investigators, Gingrich worked out an arrangement with House Minority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) to select the holdover members who had been appointed by former Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) and former Minority Leader Robert H. Michel (R-Ill.). The committee will consist of five Republicans and five Democrats.

Gingrich suggested that questions about his ethics are rooted in Democratic and media resistance to his “contract with America” campaign manifesto and other Republican efforts to reverse half a century of Democratic government activism.

“I am a genuine revolutionary,” he said. “They are the genuine reactionaries. We are going to change their world. They will do anything to stop us. They will use any tool. There is no grotesquerie, no distortion, no dishonesty too great for them to come after us.”

But Gingrich predicted that the GOP would prevail in the long and bitter ideological struggle because Republicans have become the party committed to “liberating the American people.”

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As a signal of the new Republican approach to government, Gingrich hailed the selection of New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman as the party’s representative to reply to Clinton’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday.

The Ethics Committee members will look into a complaint filed by Gingrich’s Democratic opponent in his district in Georgia in the November election.

Ben Jones, the Democrat, said that improper tax deductible donations were used to finance a college course that Gingrich taught. The contributions went to a nonprofit foundation that, according to Jones, has strong ties to GOPAC, Gingrich’s conservative political action committee.

Times political writer Ronald Brownstein contributed to this story.