• discussions >
• Front Room

Newt Gingrich gets lifetime membership to Dallas strip club

Last year former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich mistakenly gave Dallas businesswoman Dawn Rizos an Entrepreneur of the Year Award and invited her to a private Washington dinner to discuss ways to revitalize the economy. For her part, Rizos donated $5,000 to Gingrich's group called American Solutions.

But it turned out that Gingrich had confused Rizos, the owner and CEO of the Lodge, the famed Dallas gentlemen's club, with another businesswoman. After learning of the mistake, Gingrich rescinded Dawn's invite to the dinner.

Apparently Gingrich didn't learn from last year's embarrassing episode. He recently sent Rizos an American Solutions membership card and asked for another donation.

"Thanks to members like you, American Solutions played a critical role in helping create this year's sea-change election," Gingrich wrote to Rizos.

Rizos, one of the most successful businesswomen in North Texas, said Thursday she would hold off on donating money to Gingrich's group until they could talk about last year's snubbing.

But she did do the former speaker a huge solid by giving him a VIP membership to the Lodge. The Lodge's VIP card is one of the most sought after prizes in the industry.

"It's just a temporary card right now, but I promise we will have the permanent one waiting for him at the door," Rizos said.

She added that the club expected huge crowds when North Texas hosts the Super Bowl in February.

"I guarantee we will save a table for Newt," she said.

With that VIP card, Newt can get a table upstairs.

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/a…