Romney Staff Spent Nearly $100,000 to Hide Records

[Hissyspit]

Source: Washington Post / Reuters

Romney staff spent nearly $100,000 to hide records

WASHINGTON | Mon Dec 5, 2011 7:30pm EST

By Mark Hosenball

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney spent nearly $100,000 in state funds to replace computers in his office at the end of his term as governor of Massachusetts in 2007 as part of an unprecedented effort to keep his records secret, Reuters has learned.

The move during the final weeks of Romney's administration was legal but unusual for a departing governor, Massachusetts officials say.

The effort to purge the records was made a few months before Romney launched an unsuccessful campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. He is again competing for the party's nomination, this time to challenge Barack Obama for the presidency in 2012.

Five weeks before the first contests in Iowa, Romney has seen his position as frontrunner among Republican presidential candidates whittled away in the polls as rival Newt Gingrich, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, has gained ground.

When Romney left the governorship of Massachusetts, 11 of his aides bought the hard drives of their state-issued computers to keep for themselves. Also before he left office, the governor's staff had emails and other electronic communications by Romney's administration wiped from state servers, state officials say.

Read more: http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7B500X20111206?irpc=932

[zbdent]

1. If Republicans were held to the standards that they have demanded of any Dem

there would be no viable Republican candidate for any office ... ever.

Jesus Christ himself, if he was reborn to Joseph and Mary Christi in Lubbock Texas, wouldn't qualify to run for office.

[No Elephants]

8. That radical, authority mocker? Of course he wouldn't qualify to run for office. This is not a

Socialist country, after all.

[tomm2thumbs]

2. bet he wishes he could hide all those videos of him saying opposite things on EVERY issue out there

If someone wants to vote for a worm wriggling every which way the mud flows, then Romney is their worm.

(yes, a worm with a hairdo that would hold up in a hurricane, but a worm nonetheless)

[kestrel91316]

3. Why is destruction of government records not illegal???????

Romney and staff should have gone to prison for such criminal malfeasance, IMHO.

[Politicalboi]

4. I'm sure they were just making space

For the next Gov on the hard drives. LOL!

[No Elephants]

9. Why is using $100,000 in state money to cover your own ass not illegal?

A multi, multi millionaire and he could not shell out for his own cover up?

He almost did not get to run for Governor here because he tried to pull a fast one over his Utah state taxes, too.

He must be as cheap as they come.

[Hotler]

12. I bet he tips bad also.

I bet he throws down only a buck no matter the cost of a meal.

[Samba]

5. selling a loaded hard drive sounds like a major headache

What with the various software licences and data security issues.

These guy's truth-o-meter reports look well done.

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2011/dec/02/mitt-romney/romney-says-he-followed-law-and-precedent-taking-h/

"But the Massachusetts governor’s office is not subject to these regulations, according to the state Supreme Court.

In 1997, the court issued a ruling that effectively exempts the governor’s office from the public records law's requirements. In the ruling, Ann K. Lambert vs. Executive Director of the Judicial Nominating Council, the court determined that judicial nomination documents submitted to the state's governor are not public because the governor’s office is not "explicitly included" in the state records law.

"

[No Elephants]

10. Thanks. I am going to contact my state rep and see if he cannot get that changed!

[ellisonz]

6. We want Mittens! We want Mittens! We want Mittens!

:D

[left on green only]

7. It's about what you would expect

from the kind of person who would tie a dog to the roof of his family car, before departure on his "family" vacation. And perhaps the most telling part of all was when the dog became so terrorized that he unintentionally shat diarrhea in Romney's face, many miles later, after Romney finally stopped the car and climbed out of his open door. Yes indeedie, on that day the symbolic cream of the right wing republicon crop came home to roost (so to speak). It kinda reminds me of the republicon ideas that came from that other right wing excuse for a human being that the Germans foisted upon our planet a few years back. What was his name? Oh yeah, Adolph Hitler. And a wing by any other name would smell as sweet, in what world?

Make no mistake. The right wing, from karl rove to andrew bretbart to glenn beck, are coming to get you.

[No Elephants]

11. Calling Mahtha Coakley, calling Mahtha Coakley, calling Mahtha Coakley.

Misuse of $100,000 in state funds here.

Geez, I don't to end up with Huntsman, though.

Maybe we'll just have to let Willard slide on that one.

[Blue Owl]

13. The GOP spends millions to appear legitimate

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.