It’s been building to this since Gingrich in the 90s.
And now here we are
Oh, Gingrich was just a next step. This dates back to the unholy alliance of the GOP and Evangelicals as well as the Southern Strategy dating back to the 60s.
But since you mentioned the Newt - I can think of at least 5 GOP Congresscritters who voted to impeach Clinton for lying about an affair who were themselves engaged in affairs at the time of the vote:
Newt Gingrich
Bob Livingston
Helen Chenoweth
Henry Hyde
Dan Coats
and, of course, there's Dennis Hastert who was likely already being blackmailed by Israel and Turkey for his, uh, "indiscretions" with high school boys on the wrestling team.
Sensenbrenner was especially galling in his comments today about the Special Counsel's investigation being a waste because the POTUS cannot be indicted. That jackass was one of 13 House managers of the Clinton impeachment trial.