AP Says Romney Worked at Bain After 1999

In a story that is bound to stoke the controversy over when Republican presidential candidate left Bain Capital, the Associated Press quotes Bain associates and others familiar with Romney’s actions at the time saying that he stayed in regular contact with his partners after he claims to have exited in February 1999.

The wire service reports that Romney tended to his partnership interests and negotiated his separation from the company during several meetings in Boston, the company’s home base, prior to leaving in 1999. But the story says his activities were limited to matters that did not affect the firm’s investments or other management decisions. The AP talked to several of Romney’s former associates and reviewed financial reports.

Romney has said he had no active role in Bain, the private equity firm he founded, after he left to take over management of Salt Lake City’s Winter Olympics bid. Yet Romney continued to oversee his partnership stakes even as he disengaged from the firm, personally signing or approving a series of corporate and legal documents through the spring of 2001, according to financial reports reviewed by the AP.

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