Newly obtained SEC filing records from Bain Capital show that
Mitt Romney was "the man in charge" of his investment firm up and
through 2002, a full three years after the Republican presidential
candidate says he left the company. This, according to a
Boston Globe report which builds on a story
Mother Jones first broke earlier this month.
Nine SEC filings submitted by four different business entities after
February 1999 describe Romney as Bain boss. (David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
file 1993)
Romney and his campaign have consistently stated (and
asserted in disclosure forms when first ran for president in 2007) that
he left Bain in 1999, but SEC filing documents obtained by
the Globe
show that he remained the firm’s “sole stockholder, chairman of the
board, chief executive officer, and president” beyond that time. In 2001
and 2002, Romney was paid an 'executive' salary of at least $100,000 --
beyond what he received from investments -- and his name appears on
several official documents during that time.
Some observers contend that if Romney's disclosure forms with either
the FEC or the SEC are false, he could potentially be guilty of
committing 'a felony.' At the very least, many meet with incredulity
Romney's claim, given the SEC documents, that he played no role
whatsoever during this period.
“You can’t say statements filed with the SEC are meaningless. This is
a fact in an SEC filing,” Roberta S. Karmel, a former SEC commissioner,
told
The Globe.
"Are you telling me he owned the company but had no say in its investments?” --former SEC commissioner Roberta Karmel
“It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to say he was technically in
charge on paper but he had nothing to do with Bain’s operations,” Karmel
continued. “Was he getting paid? He’s the sole stockholder. Are you
telling me he owned the company but had no say in its investments?”
The Obama campaign argue that as sole owner of the Bain Capital,
Romney would have to take responsibility for the company's
decision-making and investment strategy during that period and any and
all negative political baggage that might come along with it.
“When Mitt Romney ran for governor and now as he’s running for
president, he consistently claimed he could not be blamed for
bankruptcies and layoffs from Bain investments after February 1999
because he departed for the Olympics,” Obama deputy campaign manager
Stephanie Cutter said in a statement. “Now, we know that he wasn’t
telling the truth.”
Senior Obama adviser David Axelrod weighed in on Twitter, saying:
AmericaBlog's John Aravosis, however, contends even Axelrod downplays the posssible significance of the revelations:
...Axelrod isn't even right about how bad this is. It's not an "either-or."
1. Romney told the SEC that he remained the firm’s "sole stockholder,
chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president" up until
2002.
2. But Romney said in a more recent financial disclosure form that he
left Bain in 1999 - so the two federal forms contradict each other, at
least one is a lie:
Mitt Romney Public Financial Disclosure
Report, Aug. 11, 2011: Mr. Romney retired from Bain Capital on February
11, 1999 to head the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. Since February 11,
1999, Mr. Romney has not had any active role with any Bain Capital
entity and has not been involved in the operations of any Bain Capital
entity in any way.
In other words, Romney lied to the federal government either
way. Either to the SEC, or in his more recent financial dislocure
forms. And either one appears to be a felony.
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