Why Romney flip-flopped on Bain departure date

Thursday's revelations in the Boston Globe that Mitt Romney did not in fact leave Bain Capital in February 1999 have put the GOP standard bearer in hot water. At best, the contention if true would mean Romney lied to the American people to avoid paternity for job-killing deals that nevertheless lined his own pockets. At worst, the Republican nominee flouted SEC rules and broke the law.

But largely overlooked in the discussion of departure date as Bain Capital CEO is why Mitt Romney used to claim he was only on leave between 1999 and 2002. If Romney really permanently left Bain in 1999 to run the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, he might have been ineligible to run for governor of Massachusetts.

As the Globe noted in its story, "financial disclosure documents Romney filed in Massachusetts show that he was paid as a Bain Capital executive while he directed the Olympics." But it is the last sentence in the article which may be the most important:

In Romney's 2002 race for governor, he testified before the state Ballot Law Commission that his separation from Bain in 1999 had been a "leave of absence" and not a final departure.

And why was Mitt Romney testifying before the Massachusetts Ballot Law Commission? Because, it turns out, for three years he paid property taxes to Utah while claiming his $3.8 million Park City mansion was his "primary residence." And unless he could convince the Commission that was a mistake and that his tony Belmont estate was still home, Bain Capital CEO Romney would never have become Governor Romney.

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