Washington - Two top fundraising aides for Republican US presidential candidate Newt Gingrich have resigned, putting the former House of Representatives speaker's chaotic campaign into deeper trouble.
Finance director Jody Thomas was one of those to quit, Gingrich campaign spokesperson R.C. Hammond said on Tuesday.
Other key members of Gingrich's team, including his campaign manager, resigned on June 9, questioning his commitment to the 2012 presidential race after the candidate went on a Greek cruise with his wife.
Since launching his campaign in May, Gingrich has also angered his party by criticising a congressional Republican plan to scale back the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly and disabled.
He also has fended off questions about why he had carried as much as $500 000 in debt to jewellery firm Tiffany & Company from 2005 to 2006.
Gingrich will press on with his candidacy at an event Wednesday in Georgia, where he will call for revamping the Federal Reserve system, his spokesperson said.
Other staffers will cover the fundraising duties left by the departing aides, Hammond said.
“They were part of the team. We have a half dozen staffers responsible for raising money,” he said.
Gingrich, 68, was the main architect of the 1994 election victory that gave Republicans control of both the House and Senate for the first time in decades. He also was author of the party's “Contract with America” political manifesto.
He ended his 20-year congressional career after Republican losses in 1998 elections.
Gingrich has tried to ease concerns among the religious right about his personal life. Gingrich is married to his third wife, with whom he had an affair while married to his second wife. - Reuters