Obama Team: Romney Either Felon or Liar

The Obama team is picking up on the Boston Globe‘s false report this morning that Mitt Romney didn’t actually leave Bain Capital until 2002, even though he said he left Bain Capital in 1999. That report neglected to mention that Romney left the firm in 1999 to manage the Salt Lake City Olympics – a fact lamented by the Globe itself at the time – and never returned to work, formalizing his break with the firm in a 2002 agreement. This non-troversy was settled at the time by the Massachusetts Ballot Law Commission, which said that Romney’s “testimony was credible in all respects.” If Romney hadn’t left active management in 1999, he would have committed a federal felony by certifying that he did leave in financial disclosure forms.

So this shouldn’t be an issue.

But the Obama campaign never lets a false attack go to waste. So this morning, they’re now arguing, in the words of deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter, “Either Mitt Romney, through his own words and his own signature, was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the SEC, which is a felony. Or he was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the American people to avoid responsibility for some of the consequences of his investments.”

This is sheer and complete garbage. Romney wasn’t active at Bain from 1999-2002 but didn’t formally leave the firm until 2002. Case closed.

But this white collar lynching will go on, with the help of the mainstream media, regardless.