Marianne Gingrich speaks

Matt Drudge first broke news that Marianne Gingrich, Newt Gingrich's second wife who he left after a lengthy affair with his current wife, Callista, has given an interview to ABC News, which appears to mark only the second time she's spoken this cycle.

My colleagues Dylan and Keach report that the interview is likely to air tomorrow night, which would coincide with the final debate before the South Carolina primary vote on Saturday.

Marianne Gingrich has barely spoken this campaign cycle, and the fact that Gingrich has a messy personal past is well known.

But based on her comments in the past about their relationship - Marianne Gingrich has said her then-husband called to ask for a divorce by phone while she was visiting her mother for her birthday in Ohio, and while he was leading the charge against Bill Clinton over Sexgate - it seems unlikely that this is going to be a positive thing for Gingrich at a time when his candidacy is surging.

Drudge also said there was some consternation among ABC News executives about airing a potentially explosive interview so close to a pivotal vote. Dylan and Keach say their sources downplayed that. It's also not clear how much new light Marianne Gingrich will actually shed on the candidate.

But Drudge's siren-headlined bulletin - his splash came a day after the 14-year anniversary of him breaking word of the Lewinsky scandal - ensures much more focus on interview by the rest of the press.

I asked Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond about the interview, and he released a letter to ABC News execs from Gingrich's daughters, Kathy Lubbers and Jackie Cushman, who have become his biggest surrogates in answering questions about their family. The letter is below:

The failure of a marriage is a terrible and emotional experience for everyone involved. Anyone who has had that experience understands it is a personal tragedy filled with regrets, and sometimes differing memories of events. We will not say anything negative about our father’s ex-wife. He has said before, privately and publicly, that he regrets any pain he may have caused in the past to people he loves. ABC News or other campaigns may want to talk about the past, just days before an important primary election. But Newt is going to talk to the people of South Carolina about the future– about job creation, lower taxes, and about who can defeat Barack Obama by providing the sharpest contrast to his damaging, extreme liberalism. We are confident this is the conversation the people of South Carolina are interested in having. Our father is running for President because of his grandchildren – so they can inherit the America he loves. To do that, President Obama must be defeated. And as the only candidate in the race, including Obama, who has actually helped balance the national budget, create jobs, reform welfare, and cut taxes and spending, Newt felt compelled to run - to serve his country and safeguard his grandchildren's future.

Maggie Haberman is senior political reporter for Politico.