Documents conflict on when Romney left Bain

WASHINGTON (AP):

FEDERAL DOCUMENTs filed by Mitt Romney's former company appear to conflict with the Republican presidential candidate's statements about when he left Bain Capital, the private-equity firm central to his legacy in the private sector.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2001, Bain Capital listed Romney as the company's "sole shareholder, sole director, chief executive officer, and president." It said Romney's "principal occupation" was as Bain's managing director.

Romney's campaign repeatedly has said Romney had virtually nothing to do with the company's operations after February 1999, when he began work on the troubled 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

"Romney left Bain Capital in February of 1999 to run the Olympics, and had no input in investments or management of companies after that point," campaign spokeswoman Andrea Saul said Thursday.

Questions about Romney's control at Bain from 1999 to 2001 are important in his bid to oust President Barack Obama this fall. That is when the company oversaw investments that either sent jobs abroad, or filed for bankruptcy. It is also a time during which Romney stated in federal disclosure forms that he was not active in Bain Capital.

Credibility under question

For example, in late 1999, Bain controlled Steam International setting up overseas call centres, and a subsidiary which moved jobs from California to Mexico. In 2000, the Ampad company declared bankruptcy. The following year, so did steel-maker GS Industries - just as Bain made $58.4 million from its investment.

The two presidential campaigns differ about the extent to which United States jobs were affected. But the Romney camp's chief response long has been that Romney wasn't making decisions for the company when these events took place.

The campaigns exchanged sharp accusations Thursday about truthfulness and the issue of sending US jobs to other countries.

Stephanie Cutter, Obama's deputy campaign manager, said Romney may have committed a felony if he misrepresented his role at Bain on the SEC documents. And if he was running Bain after 1999, Cutter said, Romney hasn't been truthful with the public.

"If that's the case, if he was lying to the American people, then that's a real character and trust issue," she said.