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Romney Knows "Nothing" About Offshore Funds Run By His Personal Lawyer
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jul 10, 2012
Modified Jul 10, 2012
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Jul 10, 2012
Modified Jul 10, 2012
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In a radio interview yesterday, Mitt Romney pushed back against the idea that he had anything to hide in his opaque, off-shore holdings that were thoroughly reported by Vanity Fair. "With regard to any foreign investments, I understand, and you understand of course, that my investments have been held by a blind trust, have been managed by a trustee," Romney told Radio Iowa. "I don't manage them. I don't even know where they are." That trustee happens to be R. Bradford Malt, Romney's personal attorney, whose name sounds alternatively like a cufflink manufacturer or the name of a frozen cocktail special in the Caymans.
“So, you know, I understand the president’s going to try to do anything he can to divert attention from the fact that his jobs record is weak and he has no plan to make things better," Romney added. That much is likely true, but it appears he's being less than forthcoming about how much he knows about his offshore accounts.
It’s certainly true that under Malt the trusts don’t appear to be as blind as they might be: for instance, in 2010 the Romneys invested $10 million in the start-up of the Solamere Founders Fund, co-founded by their eldest son, Tagg, and Spencer Zwick, Romney’s onetime top campaign fund-raiser; Solamere is now in the Ann Romney blind trust. Malt has said he invested in Solamere without consulting Mitt or Ann and explained he liked Solamere because of its diversified approach and because he knew the founders and had confidence in them.
Likewise, the Romneys were reported to have invested at least $1 million in Elliott Associates, L.P., a hedge fund specializing in “distressed assets.” Elliott buys up cheap debt, often at cents on the dollar, from lenders to deeply troubled nations such as Congo-Brazzaville, then attacks the debtor states with lawsuits to squeeze maximum repayment. Elliott is run by the secretive hedge-fund billionaire and G.O.P. super-donor Paul Singer, whom Fortune recently dubbed Mitt Romney’s “Hedge Fund Kingmaker.” (Singer has given $1 million to Romney’s super-pac Restore Our Future.)
It's ironic that the Romney camp would sell vintage George Romney campaign swag, if only because his father pioneered financial transparency for presidential candidates. As Joe Biden noted earlier today to a Nevada audience, "[Romney] wants you to show your papers, but he won't show us his!"
Tagged
2012 election
barack obama
mitt romney
offshore accounts
rich people
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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