In my diary yesterday entitled "If Romney Wasn't at Bain from 1999 to 2002, He Forgot to Tell the Business Press" yesterday, I suggested I had found more than just the two stories I mentioned in that diary.
In fact, I did, and the latter story--the one about the Wall Street Journal's coverage of Bain's purchase of 57,000 shares of the Grey Group--helped me find this.
More below the orange curlycue.
PART ONE: THE CLUE: GREY GLOBAL GROUP
I decided to follow up on that story, because I figured there had to be a reason the Wall Street Journal reporter thought that W. Mitt Romney was "the president and chief executive of Brookside" in March of 2001.
That would be because that's what Brookside declared in the March 5, 2001 SEC filings about the acquisition:
As of the close of business on March 2, 2001, the Brookside Fund owned 57,479 Shares of Common Stock outstanding of the Company. The Brookside Fund has the sole power to vote and dispose of the shares of Common Stock. The Brookside Fund acts by and through its general partner, Brookside Investors. Brookside Investors acts by and through its general partner, Brookside Inc. Mr. W. Mitt Romney is the sole shareholder, sole director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brookside Inc. and thus is the controlling person of Brookside Inc. No person other than the respective owner referred to herein of shares of Common Stock is known to have the right to receive or the power to direct the receipt of dividends from or the proceeds from the sale of such shares of Common Stock. (emphasis mine)
(Hat tip to
8ackgr0und N015e's diary yesterday entitled "Mitt, meet EDGAR. Hammer, meet nail. [IRONIC UPDATE]" for helping me dig through these.)
However, if you scroll down, you'll notice this acquisition wasn't signed by W. Mitt Romney himself. Rather, it was signed by Dominic Ferrante, "Managing Director":
By: s Domenic Ferrante
------------------------
Name: Domenic Ferrante
Title: Managing Director
See the "
s Dominic Ferrante" above the line? That indicates that's Dominic Ferrante's actual signature above his printed name.
In this case, W. Mitt Romney can claim, as he's been claiming, that he had no active role in the company and that they were signing documents on his behalf.
But the acquisition of the Grey Global Group stock isn't what Romney's running from.
PART TWO: THE PROBLEM: STERICYCLE
He's running from Bain's acquisition of Stericycle stock in November 1999.
According to John King's article entitled "John King: Why is 1999 so important in 2012?":
And inside both Bain and the Romney campaign, there is a strong belief that either the Obama campaign or a Democratic ally wants to use another Bain investment against Romney late in the campaign but cannot do so with any credibility under the February 1999 departure scenario.
The investment in question: Stericycle, a medical waste company that, among other things, disposed of aborted fetuses.
How could the Stericycle investment be used against Romney?
Bain's involvement in a company that disposed of aborted fetuses could make a powerful final week direct mail piece or attack ad on Christian radio. And in a close election, turnout of the religious right is one of the keys to a Romney victory in November. (emphasis mine)
Romney has reason to be worried. In fact, he should be very worried.
You see, if the Grey Global Group stock acquisition SEC filings were fairly easy for me to find...
...so were the Stericycle stock acquisition SEC filings on November 22, 1999. And they're a doozy.
First and foremost, Bain didn't aquire Stericycle. Brookside Capital Partners Fund did, and David Corn has already outlined W. Mitt Romney's role in Brookside, as well as its relationship with Bain Capital, in "EXCLUSIVE: Romney Invested Millions in Chinese Firm That Profited on US Outsourcing". Brookside is a subsidiary of Bain Capital.
Moreover, Bain Capital was, in fact, also directly part of the acquisition of Stericycle stock.
More importantly, this SEC filing represents W. Mitt Romney as "the sole shareholder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of BCI, BCP VI Inc., Brookside Inc. and Sankaty Ltd" (emphasis mine). That pretty much speaks for itself--he's not only the chair, CEO, and president of Brookside, but also Bain Capital Investments ("BCI") and other the other Bain parties involved in the acquisition. This kind of declaration is repeated over and over throughout the document.
Moreover, unlike many of the other SEC filings, including the SEC filings for the acquisition of Global-Tech Appliances that David Corn exposed three days ago, W. Mitt Romney actually signed this one:
Date: November 19, 1999 s W. Mitt Romney
-------------------------------------------
W. Mitt Romney
This is not merely some document formed by Brookside and signed on Romney's behalf by Dominic Ferrante, like the acquisition of the Grey Global Group stock or the Global-Tech Appliances stock were.
And he didn't just sign it once. He signed it twice.
12:03 PM PT: Wow! Rec list, two days in a row! I'm honored, again! Thank you.
6:41 PM PT: It appears David Corn of Mother Jones already picked this up: http://www.motherjones.com/...