The Romney campaign has truly awful timing. After weeks of the Obama campaign undermining Mitt Romney's standing with ads attacking the Republican's controversial private-sector background, Romney punched back hard this morning with a new ad that effectively (and ironically) accuses the president of being a big liar.
The strategy was simple: the whole day was supposed to be about Romney's claim that the president is the lyingest liar who's ever lied. Instead, the ad was released the same day as a new Boston Globe bombshell that catches Romney lying about his Bain background.
As we discussed yesterday, reporting from Mother Jones and TPM got this ball rolling, but it's the Globe piece that's being billed as "a potential game changer."
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."
Also, a Massachusetts financial disclosure form Romney filed in 2003 states that he still owned 100 percent of Bain Capital in 2002. And Romney's state financial disclosure forms indicate he earned at least $100,000 as a Bain "executive" in 2001 and 2002, separate from investment earnings.
Perhaps the most brutal element of the article comes towards the end: an unnamed Romney campaign official acknowledged that Romney's claims "do not square with common sense" given the SEC filings. Ouch.
To put it mildly, this has the potential to do some very serious damage to Romney's candidacy.
For one thing, there's the question of which of Romney's contradictory answers is the truth. When the editors of FactCheck.org initially took Romney's claims at face value to reject Democratic criticisms, they said the candidate must be telling the truth about his Bain departure date, because if he didn't really leave until 2002, then "Romney 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."
FactCheck.org meant that to be proof that Romney's claims were true. Now that there's ample evidence to the contrary, it's worth considering that whole "guilty of a federal felony" question again.
But even if we put that aside, the underlying point is why Romney wants people to believe he left Bain earlier than the apparent, documented date. On this, there's no great mystery: Romney doesn't want to be on the hook for a series of controversial Bain investments, layoffs, and bankruptcies that Bain oversaw after February 1999.
In other words, Romney isn't just accused of lying about a superficial clerical matter; he's accused of lying to avoid responsibility for his business' actions on his watch.
The Romney defense is that he was technically Bain's chief after February 1999, but he wasn't really involved with the company anymore. He was, as the New York Times described it the other day, "an absentee owner" who "left day-to-day management" to others.
But all of the new details make this defense hard to believe. This week's reporting suggests Romney was actively involved with running Bain Capital and overseeing its operations well after the point at which he claims to have departed from the firm.
What's more, we're looking at a larger story that's starting to snowball. Romney is now burdened by unexplained offshore finances, hidden tax returns, dubious disclosures, controversial investments, unanswered questions about his individual retirement account that somehow ended up with more than $100 million, and claims about his business that contradict SEC filings.
At some point, the Republican presidential candidate is probably going to have to come clean, answer questions from someone other than Fox, and set the record straight. If Romney's smart, he'll do this sooner, rather than later.
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If TeamRomney is going to call the President of the United States a liar, they had better be willing to back up their accusation with factual evidence beyond what an online fact-checker says.
Unsure when he called obama a liar, someone should let him know that the DNC word for liar is evolving!!!
One common thread in most of the comments, aside from issues of Romney's honesty, and that seems to be a total lack of confidence in the intelligence of American voters.
2010
If I was hired to do an ad about Mister Romney I would list the lies this man has said since he started running for office and stamp a sign "BIG LIAR" over his face each time the ad came to one of his many lies. Oh, go check it out. Did you know Mormans are allow to lie? Not kidding.
So Romney is a liar? But Obama evolves? HUH!!!
This will affect Romney only if the Justice Department indicts him for the felony, which they should do. Short of that, the overwhelming Fascist and Corporate propaganda organs will drown it out.
It would be lovely to see Mitt hauled off in hand cuffs at a campaign stop...or at the GOP convention.
*sighs wistfully*
Is there a reason you want to see him hauled off in hand cuffs? I don't understand the problem? He is a successful business man! And you haters are his motivators!!! You should really check your facts by the way! You may just change to the party that wants you to be successful- not begging for the DNC to tell you how to live, eat, drive, if your worthy for a medical procedure, a hand out, what ever it is that you think you may need to survive!
Ahhh, okay, now the fundraiser gala at Uncle Dick's (Cheney) comes more into focus. Mittens needs cover for running to Uncle Dick for some personal guidance about getting his fingerprints off this little thing called Bain Capital. Next week he'll be accusing President Obama's campaign for starting the whole controversy. Then, Mittens will accuse President Obama of racism because Mittens was booed at his NAACP speech.
I can't wait for Mr. Romney's explanation. He could probable write another bio about this and call it Mittens On Mittens: the fact-less prince (prints?).
Wasn't this a subplot in Office Space?
Let Romney try explain to voters how it's possible that he was listed as Bain's sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president, and documents show his signature and he received a six-figure salary, but he wasn't employed there.
If Team Romney thinks the public is going to buy that, they are fooling themselves.
As usual, Romeny's excuse is no better than what he's accused of. It appears he was in charge of a stinking behemoth of outsourcing, abortion-disposing, money-hiding poo. But no, Romey says: I wasn't in charge. I walked away and just left that stinking behemoth to RUN AMOK while I hung out in Utah for three years.
This Olympics excuse is wearing really thin. Like what isn't ceremonial about that job? Never believed his lie that he had to "save" the Olympics when any billionaire could have written out a check to fix the problem.
Worse yet, Mitt is now becoming a publicity problem for the Olympics by using them as an excuse for every shady thing he's ever done at Bain. Ann's dancing horse better be a real super athlete or someone at the Olympics Committee might just send it off to a glue factory to get even with Mitt for the bad press.
So Mitt is going to sign bills as President and later say they are not legal because he wasn't in charge or paying attention at the time? The Buck never stops with Romney.
that's pretty much SOP for the GOP think about the last 3 of them.
Can't help wondering what was on the computer hard drives from Mass that he "bought." He was probably involved in company decisions even after 2002. And they called Nixon "Tricky Dick."
Was he lying then, or is he lying now?
What do you suppose Gingrich and Santorum are doing tonight?
Factcheckers has lost all credibility. On the issue of Romney commiting a Felony Romney has two competing statements filed with different federal authorities, so in either case he technically commited a felony. Unfortunately this type of crime requires intent and that is all the wiggle room Romney needs.
Usually this type of thing is not prosecuted if there has been no financial damage, but in this case I'm thinking it should be!
We should all demand prosecution, only because it sends a signal that these types of trying to walk the grey line of the law while violating the spirit will not be tolerated.
Come on now, when Mitt Romney said he "left" Bain in 2009, he probably just meant that he "left" the State where Bain was and went to Utah to work for the Olympics, not that he "left" the company. If you look at the word "left" in the dictionary, he may have meant he followed his "left" hand. He could have meant that he was "left" wing from a political standpoint. He probably didn't mean "left" as meaning "leave". When Mitt says something, you can't just assume that he means what he says. You really need to look at the dictionary to determine all the possible definitions or interpretations of what he might have meant and make sure you pick the one that muddies the waters enough to assure that Mitt didn't mean what he said, and therefore, could not possibly have lied.
You know, like when Mitt said that he "saw" his dad march with Martin Luther King Jr. He really didn't mean he "saw" this as in seeing with his eyes, rather that it was a "figure of speech". Figure of speech about...? Hmmm, what did he mean when he "saw"; was it something he saw like a vision, was it something he saw in a dream, or was it something Mitt's dad and Martin Luther King Jr. were doing to a tree? You know, like when George Washington chopped down the cherry tree. Perhaps they used a "saw" to cut down a cherry tree and what Mitt meant was that he cannot tell a lie, my dad did "saw" down a cherry tree with Martin Luther King Jr.
Not sure what Mitt really meant about "left" or "saw", but I am sure that the dictionary can explain what he meant. It appears that what he means when someone questions the truth of his statements is that he swears on the dictionary, or at least the definitions therein, that he is telling the truth, though most people would swear on the Bible.
It would appear that whenever Mitt Romney is caught in a lie, he merely needs to turn to the dictionary to explain what he meant or didn't mean. And like the definitions in the dictionary change over the years, so too does Mitt Romney on such minor issues as abortion, health care, job outsourcing, gay rights, and on and on. So, don't assume that what he means when he says something is what it means in the dictionary today. You really need to find out what the definitions in the dictionary were at the time that he said something that he didn't mean.
WOW, are you confused? Me too! Wouldn't it be so much easier just to tell the truth!!!
Lie? Or evolve? Flip flop? Or evolve? hmmmm!
I'm gonna let you all in on a little secret- did you guys know that we are all puppets of MSNBC/and the Obama Admin? Yep- sorry to have to break it to you like this. This is how it works, they will dangle a little white lie of theirs, something that will make it really hard to figure out if you are in fact a puppet of theirs.
Romney is a rich man, he has been successful in his life. And you should all be ashamed of yourselves to think for 1 minute that those who have created a life of means and worked hard for it all, shouldn't enjoy it? Seriously? Come on.... This is pure hatred from those who are nothing but jealous, and feel entitled to the success's of the rich, smart, and ambitious.
You know you to could have it all if you put yourself out there and worked for it!
Here's an idea: If those of you haters were to put in 10% of the time you have making false accusations, the threats, the hateful comments, etc.... if you put 10% of that time into your future- the world of opportunity is at your reach!
This admin has really done a number on the American people! Seriously this is such a shame! We are suppose to be the Country that people look to for hope! And the only things we have to show now is more dependency on our Govt, our nastiness, homelessness, joblessness, lifelessness, mindlessness, we are dreamless, loveless, careless, fund-less, food-less, etc.....
We are better then this people! Come on! Don't you want better than this? It starts with you! When you think this negative, your day must be less than desirable I'm sure!
Those of you attacking the GOP, Tea Party, 3rd Party, etc, You guys are really nothing but bullies! You do know that don't you?
Are you guys really gonna let yourselves be pawns for the Gov? Or are you gonna let the Gov know you deserve better than this! You have brains, your not stupid, you have what it takes to be whatever it is you want. But if you continue to believe what they are trying so hard to get you to believe your never gonna go anywhere! Is that what you really want?
Don't you think that if there were anything out there to put Romney in jail the Obama admin would've taken care of it a long time ago????
So let this be a lesson to you, and before making threats and attacking me, think really hard about this blog! And what it really means to be a puppet! Its sad! If we were all smart we'd quit fighting battles that aren't there, and start fighting the ones that are sneaking up on us. We the people for the people! Our founders, those who believed in America plus lets not forget Martin Luther King Jr! He wasn't president but he would've been 1 of the best presidents in our lifetimes! I bet he's just rolling right now watching everything he tried to accomplish being undone by Obama and the rest of them. This is a sad time for us!
Well I hope your comments will be positive! As that is what I was trying to be here. Thanks for reading! And Good luck fellow Americans! That is what we all are! Being a part of a party is just that..... Believing you deserve better and striving for better, helping others to do better, well that makes you an American!