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News & ArtsThursday, July 12, 2012
2012 Did Mitt Romney Lie About Leaving Bain Capital?
Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Jul 12, 2012 at 6:54 AM
The Boston Globe this morning published a story that at first doesn't sound like a very big deal, but could turn out to be an explosive issue in this campaign: It would appear that Mitt Romney lied on his résumé. Here's the first two paragraphs:
Government documents filed by Mitt Romney and Bain Capital say Romney remained chief executive and chairman of the firm three years beyond the date he said he ceded control, even creating five new investment partnerships during that time.
Romney has said he left Bain in 1999 to lead the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, ending his role in the company. But public Securities and Exchange Commission documents filed later by Bain Capital state he remained the firm’s “sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president.”
(But you should read the whole thing.) This is kind of a checkmate situation for Romney. The Romney campaign has been denying his involvement with several of Bain's most egregious layoffs and outsourcings by saying Romney wasn't employed at Bain at the time. But if this Boston Globe story is true, this means that either Bain committed fraud by advertising Romney's involvement when he wasn't really involved, or Romney was lying to wiggle out of his involvement with several of Bain's dirtiest deals.
So which is it? This is important. Politico's Dylan Byers points out that it gets even more serious:
Earlier this month, FactCheck.org stated that if Mitt Romney had not left Bain Capital in 1999, he "would be guilty of a federal felony by certifying on federal financial disclosure forms that he left active management of Bain Capital in February 1999."
The Romney campaign will try to obfuscate the story, but this could turn out to be a big fucking deal.
1
This Americablog piece goes further explaining how either way he may have committed a felony. http://www.americablog.com/2012/07/new-e…
This could be Ron Paul's moment.!!!
This could be Ron Paul's moment.!!!
2
"this is just how business is done", you lazy socialist liberals.
why does this guy WANT to be president, anyway? isn't it easier just to tell the president what to do?
why does this guy WANT to be president, anyway? isn't it easier just to tell the president what to do?
5
Could be fun to watch the GOP candidate for the Presidency find himself under indictment before Election Day.
7
Rmoney really should add A Tale of Two Cities to his summer reading list, especially the novel's literary analysis:
Dickens wants his readers to be careful that the same revolution that so damaged France will not happen in Britain, which (at least at the beginning of the book) is shown to be nearly as unjust as France. But his warning is addressed not to the British lower classes, but to the aristocracy. He repeatedly uses the metaphor of sowing and reaping; if the aristocracy continues to plant the seeds of a revolution through behaving unjustly, they can be certain of harvesting that revolution in time. The lower classes do not have any agency in this metaphor: they simply react to the behaviour of the aristocracy. In this sense it can be said that while Dickens sympathises with the poor, he identifies with the rich: they are the book's audience, its "us" and not its "them." "Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious licence and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind."
With the people starving and begging the Marquis for food; his uncharitable response is to let the people eat grass; the people are left with nothing but onions to eat and are forced to starve while the nobles are living lavishly upon the people's backs. Every time the nobles refer to the life of the peasants it is only to destroy or humiliate the poor.
8
It would be nice to see him brought up on charges for this. If this goes to trial, he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell.
15
It's fun watching people on Facebook already jump through massive logical and reality contortions to dismiss this.
Where's the birth certificate, Mitt?
Where's the birth certificate, Mitt?
16
The thing that continues to fail to square with me is his reported/estimated net worth. If he was the sole shareholder of Bain Capital, then I can't possibly fathom that he isn't worth one hell of a lot more than $250MM.
I wonder if that's not a contributing factor in his failure to produce his tax returns. And now, with this doubt-raising issue, it will only fuel cries that he do just that, and it will allow some enterprising financial journalist to do some more accurate accounting of what his net worth really is.
I wonder if that's not a contributing factor in his failure to produce his tax returns. And now, with this doubt-raising issue, it will only fuel cries that he do just that, and it will allow some enterprising financial journalist to do some more accurate accounting of what his net worth really is.
17
@14:
Perhaps not. This will give the Paul supporters even more fuel for their candidate to raise hell at the convention. That would be a hell of a lot of fun to watch.
Perhaps not. This will give the Paul supporters even more fuel for their candidate to raise hell at the convention. That would be a hell of a lot of fun to watch.
18
@6 - Srsly! That made me laugh. You are dead on. What a sad situation... I almost can't wait for another 4 years to fo by so I can see what (and who) happens next!! This is like one of those sick/sad reality shows now...
20
There is one very simple question that can be asked of Mr. Romney: "If you weren't leading Bain at that time, then who was?"
21
@20
Nobody! It was lead by consensus with no clear "leader". It was like Occupy Wall Street. But done by Rich People. Srsly. You guys? Please just make him president! He'll be awesome! You'll see!
Nobody! It was lead by consensus with no clear "leader". It was like Occupy Wall Street. But done by Rich People. Srsly. You guys? Please just make him president! He'll be awesome! You'll see!
22
Gay Dude for Romney is unsurprisingly absent, as are the pro-Romney shills on the other blogs I visit. They must not have planned for this contingency.
23
If anyone is interested in playing researcher, at least to verify how easy it is to access this stuff, I've got a search string you can pop into Google:
site:sec.gov "mitt romney"
Just cut and paste it into the Google search box. A bunch of stuff will come back, but what you should concentrate on are the company filings. It's also interesting to see which companies name him as a director, not to mention the plethora of spinoffs, shell companies, holding companies and investment vehicles all associated with Bain or personally held by Romney.
It's completely fucking overwhelming. I don't know if wading through the piles and piles of filings would give the average voter the willies, or impress them with the financial complexity that Mittens has juggled over the years. For me, the layers and layers of holding companies and circular beneficial arrangements just screams "finagler." Just the kind of man to turn a government into a black-box, private fiefdom.
site:sec.gov "mitt romney"
Just cut and paste it into the Google search box. A bunch of stuff will come back, but what you should concentrate on are the company filings. It's also interesting to see which companies name him as a director, not to mention the plethora of spinoffs, shell companies, holding companies and investment vehicles all associated with Bain or personally held by Romney.
It's completely fucking overwhelming. I don't know if wading through the piles and piles of filings would give the average voter the willies, or impress them with the financial complexity that Mittens has juggled over the years. For me, the layers and layers of holding companies and circular beneficial arrangements just screams "finagler." Just the kind of man to turn a government into a black-box, private fiefdom.
24
@13 I checked the Fox news site, and not only is there no mention of it, there are multiple entries about Obamacare. CNN has nothing on it either. If only the D's could connect Rmoney to a shady black person, or someone with a foreign sounding name (Alinsky), then there could be some momentum.
25
I give the spin machine one day before they turn Mittens into a victim of big bad, liberal government.
Also, Obama's DOJ really has no way to prosecute this without seeming like he is trying to use government power to win the presidency. It may scare off a good amount of foolish undecideds. Even if he is 100% guilty, I doubt it will go to trial, and if it does, I am sure Romney has many people waiting to take the fall for him.
Also, Obama's DOJ really has no way to prosecute this without seeming like he is trying to use government power to win the presidency. It may scare off a good amount of foolish undecideds. Even if he is 100% guilty, I doubt it will go to trial, and if it does, I am sure Romney has many people waiting to take the fall for him.
27
@25 I'm not sure what the statute of limitations is for this kind of fraud/perjury, but it's probably run out by now. I doubt he could be prosecuted even if anyone wanted to.
29
@ 25, It's not a matter of SEC filings, because the apparent lie is the one he's telling on the campaign trail ("I left in 1999 and had nothing to do with Bain after that.")
If anyone is alleging that the SEC filings are false, it would be Romney himself. But I really doubt he'll say any such thing.
If anyone is alleging that the SEC filings are false, it would be Romney himself. But I really doubt he'll say any such thing.
30
Bain Capital says: "Mitt Romney left Bain Capital in February 1999 to run the Olympics and has had absolutely no involvement with the management or investment activities of the firm or with any of its portfolio companies since the day of his departure. Due to the sudden nature of Mr. Romney's departure, he remained the sole stockholder for a time while formal ownership was being documented and transferred to the group of partners who took over management of the firm in 1999. Accordingly, Mr. Romney was reported in various capacities on SEC filings during this period."
32
@27: A bit of research informs me that the limitation for this type of crime is most likely ten years. So therefore, if the evidence was good enough to really file charges in as soon as five months, it may be possible to charge him if the malfeasance did in fact extend to 2002 as the article suggests.
However, I would give that a snowball's chance in hell, so I doubt we will see Mr. Romney in court anytime soon. However, it is very possible that with some more digging, the rabbit hole may go a lot deeper...
However, I would give that a snowball's chance in hell, so I doubt we will see Mr. Romney in court anytime soon. However, it is very possible that with some more digging, the rabbit hole may go a lot deeper...
33
@ 32, after thinking about @ 30's post some more, I wonder if Bain is gearing up to fall on their swords for Mitt and take the blame for the whole thing. But if it can still be prosecuted, that would be verrry risky.
But I think you're probably right. Democrats have no stomach for doing anything that can be regarded as a POLITICAL ATTACK!!! or ABUSE OF POWER!!!! I mean, I know that the impeachment of Clinton (which was certainly both of those things) hurt the GOP too, but we would definitely not had President Bush without it.
But I think you're probably right. Democrats have no stomach for doing anything that can be regarded as a POLITICAL ATTACK!!! or ABUSE OF POWER!!!! I mean, I know that the impeachment of Clinton (which was certainly both of those things) hurt the GOP too, but we would definitely not had President Bush without it.
34
The Demonrats grand strategy of bending over, grabbing their ankles, and begging the RepubliKKKans to ass-ram them as gently and bipartisanly as possible just seems to be working fantastically!
35
Mitt Romney is clearly feeling the heat on BAIN his sole criteria for running for the American Presidency!
When SEC documents show Mitt Romney as CEO, President and Managing director of Bain Capital in 2001 and 2002 then LEGALLY speaking Romney is responsible to all that goes on under the banner of Bain Capital. Mitt Romney can not just share the good like job creation and leave the ugly like Bankruptcies and layoffs behind as if he had nothing to do about them. If he really resigned and sold his shares in Bain Capital in February 1999 then it would have been a different matter but to share in the glory of Bain's job creation but to refuse to take the responsibility of Bankruptcies and layoffs on his WATCH is trying to have it both ways and playing politics having been caught with his hand in the proverbial Cookie Jar that my friend is the very essence of an ACTIVE LEGAL ROLE in Bain till 2002!! Mitt Romney will have to face the consequences of this Swift Boating by the Obama forces.
When SEC documents show Mitt Romney as CEO, President and Managing director of Bain Capital in 2001 and 2002 then LEGALLY speaking Romney is responsible to all that goes on under the banner of Bain Capital. Mitt Romney can not just share the good like job creation and leave the ugly like Bankruptcies and layoffs behind as if he had nothing to do about them. If he really resigned and sold his shares in Bain Capital in February 1999 then it would have been a different matter but to share in the glory of Bain's job creation but to refuse to take the responsibility of Bankruptcies and layoffs on his WATCH is trying to have it both ways and playing politics having been caught with his hand in the proverbial Cookie Jar that my friend is the very essence of an ACTIVE LEGAL ROLE in Bain till 2002!! Mitt Romney will have to face the consequences of this Swift Boating by the Obama forces.
36
Mitt Romney is clearly feeling the heat on BAIN his sole criteria for running for the American Presidency!
When SEC documents show Mitt Romney as CEO, President and Managing director of Bain Capital in 2001 and 2002 then LEGALLY speaking Romney is responsible to all that goes on under the banner of Bain Capital. Mitt Romney can not just share the good like job creation and leave the ugly like Bankruptcies and layoffs behind as if he had nothing to do about them. If he really resigned and sold his shares in Bain Capital in February 1999 then it would have been a different matter but to share in the glory of Bain's job creation but to refuse to take the responsibility of Bankruptcies and layoffs on his WATCH is trying to have it both ways and playing politics having been caught with his hand in the proverbial Cookie Jar that my friend is the very essence of an ACTIVE LEGAL ROLE in Bain till 2002!! Mitt Romney will have to face the consequences of this Swift Boating by the Obama forces.
When SEC documents show Mitt Romney as CEO, President and Managing director of Bain Capital in 2001 and 2002 then LEGALLY speaking Romney is responsible to all that goes on under the banner of Bain Capital. Mitt Romney can not just share the good like job creation and leave the ugly like Bankruptcies and layoffs behind as if he had nothing to do about them. If he really resigned and sold his shares in Bain Capital in February 1999 then it would have been a different matter but to share in the glory of Bain's job creation but to refuse to take the responsibility of Bankruptcies and layoffs on his WATCH is trying to have it both ways and playing politics having been caught with his hand in the proverbial Cookie Jar that my friend is the very essence of an ACTIVE LEGAL ROLE in Bain till 2002!! Mitt Romney will have to face the consequences of this Swift Boating by the Obama forces.
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