In a piece from back in September of this year, Forbes magazine described Adelson as a "casino king" whose wealth, in the midst of an economic downturn, has increased by $7 billion "since last year, as his strong position in the casino-crazy Asian markets has pushed stock of Las Vegas Sands up roughly 50%."

As of a few months ago, Forbes reported that the 78 year-old Adelson was worth 21.5 billion dollars. He ranked #8 in the Forbes 400, and #16 in Forbes' billionaire list (#8 in the U.S.).

As of late in the evening of Thursday, December 15, Adelson's team is denying Politico's report.

But, as Forbes' Clare O'Connor pointed out, the story "isn't exactly far-fetched" since "Adelson is by far the biggest donor to Gingrich's now defunct American Solutions PAC, giving in excess of $7 million since 2006." American Solutions raised some $54 million during its five-year lifespan, according to Internal Revenue Service filings.

O'Connor pointed out that "Adelson's Las Vegas properties include the $1.5 billion Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the 1.2-million-square-foot Sands Convention Center, opened in 1997. More recently, he oversaw the launch of the $1.9 billion Palazzo resort in 2008."

Gingrich's billionaire backers

Adelson may not be the only billionaire to consider funding Gingrich. Earlier this year, Forbes' Clare O'Connor pointed out that there are "ten billionaires from the Forbes 400 rich list who have backed Gingrich before, and who may well step forward to bolster his presidential bid."

Gingrich's billionaires club includes not only Adelson, but also Stanley Hubbard, "The media tycoon behind DirecTV and Reelz"; Frank Fertitta and Lorenzo Fertitta, gaming billionaires owners of the family's Station Casinos in 2008 - two thirds of it in Frank's name, and a third in Lorenzo's" and "own[ers of] the successful Ultimate Fighting Championship martial arts outfit"; Charles Schwab, "The brokerage pioneer"; Peter Thiel, the founder PayPal and investor in Facebook; George Argyros, a California property investor, owner of Arnel Development Company; Harold Simmons, "The Dallas `king of Superfund sites' [and] a prolific giver to right-wing causes"; Ken Langone, the co-founder of The Home Depot; and, Rich DeVos, the billionaire behind home sales empire Amway.

The Adelson factor

According to the Institute for Policy Studies' Right Web, Adelson "is an important financial backer of rightist groups in Israel" who, in 2009 was given the "Theodor Herzl Gold Medallion" "by the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), a hardline group that opposes a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

Adelson was also the primary funder of a group called Freedom's Watch, a pro-Republican, pro-Iraq War and pro-Bush administration operation which closed its doors in December 2008.

According to Politico, Adelson said that he had "made no commitment to anybody. Now, doesn't mean I won't in the future, but up `til now, no commitment has been made and no amount has been stated," he said. Politico reported that Adelson "refused to answer questions about whether he'd met with representatives of the super PACs supporting Gingrich."

"I'm not telling you who I talked to," he said, saying that he "would prefer to stay under the radar." He added that "when it comes to political issues, or my personal issues or my philanthropic issues, I only allow anything to be done, I never talk about what I'm going to do to anybody. All I just do is do."

Politico reported that in response to a question about why he wanted Gingrich to be president, Adelson said: "Why do you want to have a steak for dinner? ... Steak tastes good. OK, well who would be good for the country? That's why I want him to be president."

If Adelson forks over the money to the pro-Gingrich PAC, it would be a coup for the battling Newt. But, it should also raise questions amongst Gingrich's supporters on the Religious Right.

Despite the pro-gambling advocacy of such Religious Right figures as Ralph Reed -- the former executive director of Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition whose relationship with Republican Party's über lobbyist Jack Abramoff deep-sixed his political career (electorally speaking that is) - over the years, Religious Right leaders and organizations have consistently been opposed to gambling.

Should Gingrich get the money, surely the good folks at The Family Forum, the conservative evangelical group that sponsored the Iowa Thanksgiving Family Forum, will have something to say about it. Although it should be noted that The Family Forum had no qualms about hiring Republican pollster and message manipulator, Frank Luntz, to moderate its Thanksgiving Forum, a job he came to after having shilled for Florida gambling interests a few days earlier.