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Thursday, August 23, 2012

2012 Gawker Dumps 950 Pages of Confidential Bain Documents on Their Site, Asks Readers to Help Evaluate Them

Posted by Paul Constant on Thu, Aug 23, 2012 at 10:21 AM

Wow. I thought today was going to be the start of the pre-convention slowdown in terms of political news, but Gawker just grabbed the news cycle by the nose:

Today, we are publishing more than 950 pages of internal audits, financial statements, and private investor letters for 21 cryptically named entities in which Romney had invested—at minimum—more than $10 million as of 2011 (that number is based on the low end of ranges he has disclosed—the true number is almost certainly significantly higher). Almost all of them are affiliated with Bain Capital, the secretive private equity firm Romney co-founded in 1984 and ran until his departure in 1999 (or 2002, depending on whom you ask). Many of them are offshore funds based in the Cayman Islands. Together, they reveal the mind-numbing, maze-like, and deeply opaque complexity with which Romney has handled his wealth, the exotic tax-avoidance schemes available only to the preposterously wealthy that benefit him, the unlikely (for a right-wing religious Mormon) places that his money has ended up, and the deeply hypocritical distance between his own criticisms of Obama's fiscal approach and his money managers' embrace of those same policies. They also show that some of the investments that Romney has always described as part of his retirement package at Bain weren't made until years after he left the company.

At the end of the post, they ask their readers to help sift through the complicated documents. So far, they've uncovered some of Romney's tax-dodging tricks, information that suggests Romney's involvement with Bain continued for years after his retirement, suggestions that Bain was pro-stimulus, more information on how Romney became ridiculously wealthy, and proof that Mitt Romney "Is the National Enquirer's Banker." There's nothing major so far—everybody already knew that Romney is a tax dodger and that he built his company on weird financial tricks—but there will probably be more dropping throughout the day. Keep checking the master post for new additions, and if any serious bombs drop, we'll let you know here on Slog.

(Thanks to Slog tippers Kara, Melissa, and Joe, who all wrote in with this.)

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Comments (15) RSS

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And here I thought I was going to get any work done today. I'll try to focus, but I trust someone will call me if something good turns up.

Posted by MacCrocodile

on August 23, 2012 at 10:27 AM

Holy shit. On behalf of the RW spigots that are no doubt bewildered at the moment, here is a comment that you're welcome to use: "Obama plot, blahblahblah, unethical, blahblahblah, private company, blahblahblah, Democratic ploy to stop talk about the economy, blahblahblah".

Rinse, repeat.

Posted by sperifera on August 23, 2012 at 10:43 AM

I'm guessing everything Romney's tax preparers and accountants have done is legal (even if it's barely so).

What will be interesting to see is if the conservatives/teabaggers/libertarians who pay the max on their income taxes because they do them themselves (or hire a teenager from H&R Block to prepare them) see Romney's legal hoop-jumping as something they envy and hope to attain themselves, or if they finally wake up and see there's a class of people in this country getting away with legalized, economic murder.

Posted by Urgutha Forka on August 23, 2012 at 10:45 AM

It's no bloody wonder that Romney is terrified of releasing his tax returns to public scrutiny.

Posted by TechBear on August 23, 2012 at 10:49 AM

Right on schedule. 950 pages, that mass is going to be dripping out info on Romney's finances all weekend. Nice lead in to the the Republican convention.

Posted by Machiavelli was framed on August 23, 2012 at 10:50 AM

Even if nothing shocking or new comes out of these reports the fact that it has been brought back into the public conversation right before the RNC convention is a huge gift to Obama. The GOP will be on the defense and this will set the tone for the media coverage. We also know how well R-Money does under pressure. I predict he'll turn a beautiful shade of red and stammer so hard he'll pass out from lack of oxygen.

Posted by StellaLuna on August 23, 2012 at 10:59 AM

Not sure if this is going to make any difference to anyone really.

Everyone already knows that Romney is a money-hoarding scumbag who cares about nothing but himself. It is just that so much of the country does not seem to care. His only "virtue" as a candidate is not being Obama.

It will be fun and juicy, but actual effect on the election: I am guessing none.

Posted by Theodore Gorath on August 23, 2012 at 11:01 AM

@7 The issue is less about changing the perception of Romney (since Obama's pretty much done a bang-up job of winning that battle), it's about bringing the issue back to life, highlighting wealth disparity, and maybe, just maybe, finding a smoking gun.

This has been a very bad week for Mittens, I think.

Posted by FonsieScheme on August 23, 2012 at 11:05 AM

@7 is correct, except for the first and last sentences in the second paragraph.

Posted by Gay Dude for Romney

on August 23, 2012 at 11:18 AM

First: These documents were leaked months ago.

Second: No matter what is found it will have exactly very little effect on the election. The electorate that comprise the slender margins who decide elections in this country are too fucking stupid to understand things this complex — the levels of cognitive dissonance in America is epochal.

Posted by tkc on August 23, 2012 at 11:25 AM

@ 7 is correct, ESPECIALLY for the first and last sentences in the second paragraph.

Posted by tkc on August 23, 2012 at 11:27 AM

@9, all you spout is the last sentence of the second paragraph. Romney is running on nothing but his desire for the status of the office. McCain was a better candidate.

Posted by biffp on August 23, 2012 at 11:34 AM

@8: That is certainly true, but I am really only talking about election day. I have a feeling that Romney will all but disappear from the public consciousness if he loses the election. Keep in mind he does nothing, just collects dividends.

I highly doubt there are any smoking guns. For all his flaws, Romney is a man who knows when documents need to be shredded and hidden. He destroyed documents before he left Massachusetts, and he damn well knows he needs to keep those tax returns hidden. It is most likely he shredded any smoking guns before he left Bain.

@9: I don't know, I recently vacationed with some hard-line libertarians (honestly think Obama is a socialist Kenyan, think the government should only be in charge of the military, etc.), and even they realize that Romney is a greedy, borderline sociopathic scumbag. They fucking hate Romney, they just hate Obama more.

Posted by Theodore Gorath on August 23, 2012 at 11:39 AM

Bain Capital as Artisan Entertainment bankrolled Ringmaster, Cecil B. Demented, The Blair Witch Project, National Lampoon's Van Wilder and Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights. If you look closely you can see Mitt's silhouette prominently displayed in the opening credits of each of these films.

Posted by bedipped on August 23, 2012 at 12:36 PM

@9, 12 is right you've yet to provide a reason to vote for Romney other then to say he's not Obama. You claim your support of Romney is concern over the economy and deficit, yet go mute when it is pointed out to you that all Romney and Ryan are proposing is to double down on the failed policies of Bush II. The very policies that got us into this mess.

Sure you can point out that Obama didn't do enough to prop up and stimulate the economy but to win that argument one has to ignore the Republican's mindless drive to block any and every Presidential initiative regardless of the damage such opposition does the the country.

We have a center right President in office now. What we lack in this country is an actual conservative party. Instead we have the Democrats and the Very Silly party.

Romney demonstrated again this week that he is too weak to effectively stand up to the Very Silly party. If elected this will only get worse. I'm sorry but your candidate is hollow.

Pointing and shouting Not Obama is getting old, particularly when on the rare occasions you actually state something about what you'd like to see happening, it is Obama who is trying to do those things.

Posted by Machiavelli was framed on August 23, 2012 at 12:37 PM