In the meantime, Newt has his own problems brewing with his wife's attorneys. In August, Mayoue sent the former speaker a list of questions, a standard procedure in the discovery process of a divorce case. Lawyers customarily try to obtain answers to interrogatories before they hold depositions.

Mayoue's questions covered all the obvious territory. Newt Gingrich was asked to identify all persons who had any knowledge regarding his break from Marianne. He was probed about his finances, since Marianne suspects he has hidden assets from her. He was asked to list all his bank accounts and to note all transfers of money or property in excess of $1,000 that he has made since Jan. 1, 1997. He was asked if he had received any treatment or counseling from a pastor or mental health professional in the past five years.

He was asked to identify "any and all persons, other than your wife, with whom you've had sexual relations during this marriage" and to provide the "dates, times and places in which said sexual relations occurred." He also was asked to identify anyone who knew of these affairs. Question No. 25 inquired, "Do you believe that you have conducted your private life in this marriage in accordance with the concept of 'family values' you have espoused politically and professionally?"

These are questions Newt presumably would prefer not to answer -- especially not for the public record. Rather than reply, he had his lawyer challenge the interrogatories. But on Nov. 15 his challenge failed, and a judge in Cobb County, Ga., ordered Gingrich to provide answers by Dec. 5.

If the case goes to trial, it will do so in Georgia, where state law allows either party to ask for a jury trial. Imagine Marianne's attorneys grilling Newt on the stand, before a jury, about the nitty-gritty details of his relationship with Bisek; imagine them asking him to read to the court all those lovey-dovey public statements he made about Marianne and their marriage while he was cheating on her.

Why isn't Newt trying to head this ugly divorce trial off at the pass? Why are there no settlement talks occurring?

"My hunch is that he doesn't care about his public image any longer," says one of Newt Gingrich's associates. "He's enjoying being in the private sector, and that means not having to worry about bad press."

This may be a sign that Newt has given up on politics. (Although talk of his political rehabilitation has always seemed far-fetched, he did refuse to rule out future runs when he announced his resignation a year ago.)

Newt-haters theoretically could have feared a Nixon-like return from the near-dead -- but given how Newt is handling this case, they need not fret any longer.

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