If Mitt Romney did indeed violate the False Statements Act by stating on his 2011 personal disclosure form that he had severed his ties to Bain Capital in 1999, then he knew exactly what he was doing when he finally decided to release his 2011 tax return when he did.
Based on the evidence already out there, 99 percent of the time there would be enough evidence to launch an investigation immediately. Unfortunately, this case falls into the one percent where there isn't enough--yet--to launch an investigation without risking the appearance that the Justice Department is intervening on the White House's behalf to influence the outcome of the election. For something this politically explosive, I would think there would have to be absolutely ironclad evidence.
To my journalist's mind, though, if someone who was at Bain during Romney's time were to state that Romney was indeed involved in Bain after 1999, then that would be enough corroboration to launch a probe. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where the media comes in. Hopefully someone in the mainstream media or at somewhere like Mother Jones, Slate, Salon or New Republic is looking for a whistleblower willing to talk on the record. That way, it would be awfully hard for Romney or his Republican acolytes to turn on the spin machine. And the more whistleblowers, the better.
If there was ever a time for the press to do its job, this is it.