OK, Mitt says he had nothing to do with running Bain from 1999 to 2001 because he took a leave of absence to run the Salt Lake City Olympics. So he still owned the company and had to sign SEC filings, but he had nothing to do with running Bain.
That's his story and he's sticking to it.
But ...
The Olympics were Mitt's SECOND leave of absence. The first one was to run against Ted Kennedy for Senate in 1994.
And a website called Politicker has dug up a quote from one guy who worked at Bain during the 1994 leave ... and says Mitt remained very much involved.
Prior to taking leave to run the Olympics in 1999, Mr. Romney took a leave of absence from Bain Capital during his 1994 Senate campaign. Another Globe article published in 2002 contains a quote from a former Bain Capital executive named Marc B. Wolpow who said Mr. Romney remained in a very active role at Bain Capital while he was supposedly on a leave of absence for his Senate race.
“I reported directly to Mitt Romney . . . You can’t be CEO of Bain Capital and say, `I really don’t know what my guys were doing,’” Mr. Wolpow said of Mr. Romney role at the company during his leave.
Globe article containing the quote is behind a paywall ... but it still doesn't look good for Mitt. It's not that he's a felon; it's that he remained involved and is lying to everyone when he claims he wasn't.