Mitt Romney's Smoking Gun

[kpete]

The only information presented in Romney's Bluster Offensive last week was that he left Bain in February of 1999 and that was the end of the story. If the Obama team wants to claim anything else, they're just being mean and unpresidential. Being the curious sort, I wanted to go into the news media and prove Romney right. Since I work in a law library, I have access to Lexis and WestLaw, so I went into the news sources and came up with this:

Capital's Romney aiming for politics after Olympics
Boston Business Journal

Date: Thursday, August 23, 2001, 10:33am EDT

"Mitt Romney, the Republican businessman who failed to unseat U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., in 1994, is quitting Bain Capital, the Boston-based investment firm he owns, to get back into politics... Romney is giving up 100-percent control of Bain Capital to 26 managing directors...

This was printed some 2 and a half years after Romney "quit" Bain, but notice the present tense here. Maybe that press release was sitting on their desk for 30 months before they got around to printing it. I don't think so. This appears to be what they mean by "Retroactive Retirement," which has to be the dumbest concept to ever emerge from the spin room.

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2001/08/20/daily27.html
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/07/17/1110791/-Mitt-Romney-s-Smoking-Gun
another linK:
http://xpostfactoid.blogspot.com/2012/07/some-wispy-hints-that-romney-was-not.html

[11 Bravo]

1. Great find! Let's see them try to spin this.

[ArnoldLayne]

2. Ah Ha!! Not the 1980's group..lol..but great find.

[Stuart G]

5. thanks for posting...very important...K and R nt.

[maddezmom]

3. great post and great toon.

[Jessy169]

4. The look on Ed Gillespie's face

when he coughed up the "retired retroactively" line on Crowley's show was one of intense internal dissonance. The look on his face was saying "sure, you know I'm lying, I know I'm lying, you KNOW that I know I'm lying, but I AM Romney's well-paid whore and this is what Romney has told me to say, so let's just get it over with".

Romney's entire campaign so far has been based on one absurdity after another. But the "Retroactive Retirement" has set a new standard of absurdity. As flip-flopping Mitt's butt continues to flap and flail in the breeze, what more absurdities will be treated to? Comedians, cartoonists and those of us with a sense of humor can't wait to find out what's next!

[Zambero]

6. Teabaggers who have placed all their hopes on Romney

as the last and only recourse to defeating President Obama have to be dispirited over these developments. It seems that "their guy", who they've viewed with suspicion all along, is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't come forth with the truth on his prior tax returns, offshore investments, and involvement with Bain prior to his (laughable) retroactive retirement as CEO. Stonewalling will only increase the drumbeat for him to come clean, while disclosure would seem likely to open up brand new cans of worms for Romney. Why else would be hesitate in doing so, if it would clear the air for him once and for all?

[RedStateLiberal]

7. Baingate has more smoking guns than a NRA convention!

[ThoughtCriminal]

15. LOL - I was just think Battle of Jutland

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jutland

[AnotherMcIntosh]

8. People with smoking guns, after felonies have been committed, should be arrested and prosecuted.

Even if they are Republicans.

Even if they are wealthy Republicans.

Even if they are wealthy Republicans who are grinning idiots who have gotten rich by offshoring jobs.

Even if they are wealthy Republicans who are grinning idiots who have gotten rich by offshoring jobs and are now running for a political office.

Even if they are wealthy Republicans who are grinning idiots who have gotten rich by offshoring jobs and are now running for a political office who are running against an incumbent President whose Administration will not prosecute openly-admitted war criminals and banksters who have gotten rich while crashing the economy.

Smoking gun? For a felony? Arrest him. Prosecute him.

Those who don't want him to be arrested and prosecuted are enablers.

[Motown_Johnny]

9. This bolsters my argument that he must admit to working part time at Bain

through the period in question.


He isn't avoiding any attacks for outsourcing by saying he wasn't there. He is getting hit with that anyways and it isn't going to stop.


This whole "I left in 1999" crap makes no sense at all. The evidence is indisputable. Unless these people are in such denial that they think this is just going to go away I don't see why they are waiting. There is no possible political upside to this and it just makes the calls for his tax returns that much louder.


http://xpostfactoid.blogspot.com/2012/07/some-wispy-hints-that-romney-was-not.html

^snip^


BOSTON GLOBE
November 11, 2000
Living
[subhead]: West wings sprout

A vigorous philanthropist who was among the leading figures in Boston's social scene, [Ann Romney] began developing symptoms of MS in late 1998. "It's been good for me," she said of the move. "From that perspective, Mitt's just delighted that we did this - once we got over the initial shock over how bad" the Olympics situation was. The project is running smoothly now, though still requiring so much of Mitt Romney's time that he has had to lessen his involvement with Bain Capital, his investment firm [Stephanie Cutter cited this one in her letter to Factcheck].

[Press release] Geoffrey S. Rehnert and Marc B. Wolpow Team Up to Start New Private Equity Firm

BOSTON, Jul 19, 1999 (BUSINESS WIRE via COMTEX) -- Geoffrey S. Rehnert and Marc B. Wolpow announced that they have resigned as Managing Directors from Bain Capital, Inc. and will become Special Limited Partners of the firm..... Bain Capital CEO W. Mitt Romney, currently on a part-time leave of absence to head the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee for the 2002 Games said, "Geoff and Marc have each made very significant contributions to the growth of our business... While we will miss them, we wish them well and look forward to working with them as they build their firm."





They need to retroactively own up to some involvement with Bain until he became Governor.

[marcopolo63]

10. Found this on LinkedIn...

Someone needs to call this lady who worked as the Executive Assistant for the BainCapital Managing Partner from January 2001 - 2008. She would probably remember if it was the Mittster's jet and travel affairs she was coordinating to the tune of over $1 million dollars per year!! Here is the line to her LinkedIn account: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/gail-loffredo/47/68a/bab

[BamBamBane]

11. Wow - the Romney Republicans have really been lying their asses off

about this...Peee Yew - the stank of the Romney-Republican lies is stupendous.

[graywarrior]

12. OMG, this is wickedly delightful...I'm giddy over it!

[iemitsu]

13. if romney was considering running for political office august of 2001

why didn't he clean up his tax records then?
while full disclosure might not be required to run for the governor's office it is expected of presidential candidates.
if he had a clue he might be running for president now he should have "invested" in tax records that would air well with the public.
i thought he was the investment wiz?

[tableturner]

14. Even more of a smoking gun.....

Romney's testimony before the Massachusetts election board is absolute proof that he is or has been lying.

This testimony of his, which was part of an effort to make sure that he met the residency requirements to run for governor, nails Romney. It is in his own sworn words. The only question left is which time he lied.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/12/mitt-romney-bain-departure_n_1669006.html

"Mitt Romney's repeated claim that he played no part in executive decision-making related to Bain Capital after 1999 is false, according to Romney's own testimony in June 2002.....

"Romney noted that he regularly traveled back to Massachusetts. there were a number of social trips and business trips that brought me back to Massachusetts, board meetings, Thanksgiving and so forth,' he said....."

[Overseas]

16. K&R. Glad we can add this to the pile of conflicting evidence.

But I guess the Romney campaign is hoping all these confusing lies will just make this scandal seem like all of Mitt's other lies, just a flip flop, instead of a felony.

[WI_DEM]

17. The media should be on board with your find!