By Tom Curry, msnbc.com National Affairs Writer
The Obama campaign Thursday accused Mitt Romney of lying after the Boston Globe reported that Romney had remained as chief executive and chairman of Bain Capital until 2002, three years beyond the date he said he ceded control.
Evan Vucci / AP
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gestures during a speech to the NAACP annual convention, Wednesday, July 11, 2012, in Houston, Texas.
The Globe story cited documents filed by Bain Capital with the Securities and Exchange Commission which state that Romney was “sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president” as late as 2002.
The Obama campaign released a statement Thursday referring to this as “Romney’s Big Bain Lie.”
In her response to the Globe story, Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said, "The article is not accurate. As Bain Capital has said, as Governor Romney has said, and as has been confirmed by independent fact checkers multiple times, Governor Romney left Bain Capital in February of 1999 to run the Olympics and had no input on investments or management of companies after that point."
The Globe story does not assert that Romney had any active management role at Bain Capital after 1999.
The question of whether Romney had an active role in Bain Capital after 1999 first came up as a campaign issue in 2002, when he ran for governor of Massachusetts.
His Democratic opponent, Shannon O’Brien, accused Romney of being culpable in layoffs at a Kansas City steel mill, GST Steel, that went bankrupt in 2001, after Bain Capital had profited from an investment in the company.
Romney said he could not be blamed since had no active management role at Bain at that point. The Obama campaign has revived O’Brien’s charge as part of its continuing criticism of his record as a business executive and investor.
The Washington Post reported back in May that Romney’s name appeared on Bain SEC filings between 1999 and 2002. The Post reported that a 2002 statement Romney filed with the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission said “he was a ‘passive, limited partner [with] no management capacity’ in the Bain entities in which he held ownership.”
In its statement Wednesday Bain Capital said Romney “has had no involvement in the management or investment activities of Bain Capital, or with any of its portfolio companies” since 1999.
The Obama campaign Thursday accused Mitt Romney of lying after the Boston Globe reported that Romney had remained as chief executive and chairman of Bain Capital until 2002, three years beyond the date he said he ceded control.
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gestures during a speech to the NAACP annual convention, Wednesday, July 11, 2012, in Houston, Texas.
The Globe story cited documents filed by Bain Capital with the Securities and Exchange Commission which state that Romney was “sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president” as late as 2002.
The Obama campaign released a statement Thursday referring to this as “Romney’s Big Bain Lie.”
In her response to the Globe story, Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said, "The article is not accurate. As Bain Capital has said, as Governor Romney has said, and as has been confirmed by independent fact checkers multiple times, Governor Romney left Bain Capital in February of 1999 to run the Olympics and had no input on investments or management of companies after that point."
The Globe story does not assert that Romney had any active management role at Bain Capital after 1999.
The question of whether Romney had an active role in Bain Capital after 1999 first came up as a campaign issue in 2002, when he ran for governor of Massachusetts.
His Democratic opponent, Shannon O’Brien, accused Romney of being culpable in layoffs at a Kansas City steel mill, GST Steel, that went bankrupt in 2001, after Bain Capital had profited from an investment in the company.
Romney said he could not be blamed since had no active management role at Bain at that point. The Obama campaign has revived O’Brien’s charge as part of its continuing criticism of his record as a business executive and investor.
The Washington Post reported back in May that Romney’s name appeared on Bain SEC filings between 1999 and 2002. The Post reported that a 2002 statement Romney filed with the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission said “he was a ‘passive, limited partner [with] no management capacity’ in the Bain entities in which he held ownership.”
In its statement Wednesday Bain Capital said Romney “has had no involvement in the management or investment activities of Bain Capital, or with any of its portfolio companies” since 1999.