Gingrich accuses ex-staffers of mishandling donation checks

Newt Gingrich continues to push back against claims by ex-staffers that his campaign is floundering, accusing his former aides of failing to cash $13,000 in checks made out to his 2012 effort.

Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Jim Galloway, Gingrich says the checks were found in a drawer in his Atlanta office. He accused his former aides of not doing their jobs.

"There were $13,000 in checks that were just sitting in a drawer that nobody processed," Gingrich said in a radio interview. "To have people that I had trusted, I'd known for years, fail that deeply was very sad."

But Scott Reis, the ex-Gingrich staffer who was in charge of the office, tells Galloway that all "vetted" campaign checks had been forwarded to Gingrich's headquarters in Washington.

Gingrich's comments appear to be part of a larger effort to counter claims by his former aides that he's struggling to raise cash for his 2012 campaign. A source told NBC earlier this week that Gingrich has raised less than $3 million ahead of this month's second-quarter fund-raising deadline, confirming rumors that the prolific fundraiser has had a tough time transitioning from taking unlimited checks to raising regulated contributions.

Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond slammed claims that Gingrich hasn't been willing to raise cash. He tells The Hotline's Alex Roarty Gingrich is focused on three things: "Stumping on the campaign trail, sleeping and raising money."

"We will not have Mitt's millions," Hammond told The Hotline, referring to Mitt Romney, who is aiming to raise at least $40 million by the end of the month."But we will have the financial resources needed to run the issues-oriented campaign the American people have been thirsting for."

(Photo of Gingrich: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)