It's old news to most Viners that Mitt Romney both claims to have been not with Bain as of 1999, and with Bain as of 1999. What is more baffling (he's a liar, so it's not surprising that he would claim to be in two places at once when it is convenient) is how the SEC -- with whom he filed documents claiming to be the CEO of Bain in 1999 -- overlooked his apparent lie. Now it looks like several watchdog groups are demanding an investigation:
MoveOn.org (with the support of its over 7 million members) has sent a legal analysis to the Department of Justice (DOJ) urging investigation into possible criminal misrepresentation that Romney made in his Federal Financial Disclosure Filings in 2011. MoveOn’s document was examined and seconded by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). MoveOn.org says they have substantial evidence that Romney was still involved with Bain after February of 1999. If MoveOn is right, Romney could be prosecuted under the federal False Statements Act for a felony. Did Mitt Romney lie to the SEC? Why does he not deserve as much scrutiny as President Obama?....
Romney says he left Bain in February of 1999, even though he still owned 100% of the company through 2002. Marc B. Wolpow, who came to Bain in 1990 from Drexel Burnham, the infamous junk bond company, says: “I reported directly to Mitt Romney . . . You can’t be CEO of Bain Capital and say, `I really don’t know what my guys were doing.’ ” According to the MoveOn document: On May 2, 2000, a group of Bain entities filed a Form 13D with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Form stated that, “Bain, is the sole managing partner of the BCIP entities. Mr. W. Mitt Romney is the sole shareholder, sole director, Chief Executive Officer and President of Bain Capital and thus is the controlling person of Bain Capital.” Basically these forms say Bain did some deals and Mitt was in on it. He would have had to be included on whether or not to do the deal, had votes, talked about pricing, tried to see if there was a way to export jobs, etc… because he was the CEO. Let me say that again, HE WAS THE CEO. According to financial disclosure forms that Romney had to file as Governor of Massachusetts, in 2001 and 2002 he made $100,000 a year from Bain. Where do I get a job making $100 grand a year for doing nothing?
Now Romney says he was too busy ‘saving’ the Olympics to be involved with Bain but hesigned documents related to Bain deals after February of 1999. You could argue that he signed these documents because he was just following through on some stuff that was related to his time at Bain. The thing is, Romney was identified as the sole “controlling person” of Bain and its entities which contradicts that his titles, after February of 1999, were just for show. Bain was living in Delaware (’cause corporations are people too, right Mitt?) during the time of the filings. According to the MoveOn document, Delaware law stipulates that directors and officers of the company have duties of care and loyalty including reasonable oversight and making informed business decisions. There is an exception, saying that the company can specify that a particular director/officer not have any duties; “it does not seem possible, however, for the sole director of a company to be relieved of the basic duty to exercise oversight over corporate affairs and operations, since such a structure would effectively mean the corporation had no directors—a clear violation of Delaware law.” Romney signed the filings as the sole shareholder which gives “him alone the ultimate power to make those acquisitions, to vote the acquired stock, and to dispose of it.”
