President Obama’s team falsely accused Mitt Romney today of either lying to the American public or committing a felony. That false accusation is based on the fact that Mitt Romney’s name appears on Bain Capital federal filings beyond 1999, when he retired from Bain. Because much of Bain’s outsourcing took place in the period between 1999, when Romney effectively retired from action, and 2002, when he officially left the company, the Obama campaign is suggesting that he falsified SEC documents in 2002 or lied about his level of control from 1999 to 2002.
All of which is complete and utter excrement.
Bob Bauer of the Obama campaign has sent out this charmingly misleading missive: “Romney and Bain claim that he was not involved with Bain, but Bain and its portfolio companies in their required filings under the Securities Exchange Act continuously certified to the Securities and Exchange Commission say precisely the opposite–asserting without qualification that he was a controlling person, fully in charge of Bain, under the Federal securities law. Under normal circumstances, the question of the truth of this representation would result in an investigation by the SEC into possible criminal, as well as civil, violations of the law.”
Only one problem: there is a difference between a “controlling person” and an executive officer. If Romney owned 5 percent or more of shares in a reportable subsidiary or Bain Capital itself, he would be a “controlling person” without actually exercising any sort of control. To exercise control, you must be an executive officer – somebody appointed to that position by the company. This is a basic SEC definition. And the Obama team is purposefully getting it wrong.
The Obama team is now applying the lessons it learned during the Trayvon Martin case to Mitt Romney. They’re turning Romney into George Zimmerman. They’re putting together a false version of the facts, distributing it to a compliant media (namely, the Boston Globe and Politico), and then accusing a man of a crime he didn’t commit in order to stir up animosity that benefits President Obama. All that’s missing here is President Obama explaining that if he had a son, that kid would look like some of the workers Romney outsourced.
This is the typical, tried-and-true leftist bully tactic. Wait for a flash-point: rehashed lies like this SEC and outsourcing garbage. Turn those lies into The Biggest Story Ever™: the Obama team and the mainstream media immediately jump on this story, declaring that Romney may be a felon. Declare that outsourcing and felonies can only end if we target the individual and his ideas: imprison Mitt Romney and fight the free market! And activate the base: get ready for Occupy Wall Street II: The Poop-Flingers’ Revenge.
The latest white collar mob mentality is perverse beyond belief. Mitt Romney’s just lucky that he’s a presidential candidate rather than an anonymous citizen like George Zimmerman. The only thing standing between Romney and the leftist pitchforks is the New Media.
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