back to article Hackers claim to have Mitt Romney's tax records

Various media outlets, including El Reg, have been sent a message claiming to be from a hacking group that has stolen the tax records of Mitt Romney and threatens to release them on September 28. The writer claims to have taken Romney's 1040 filings from the offices of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Franklin Tennessee and copied …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Romney is no dummy...

    ...so we can reasonably conclude that he understands that any loss of potential voter support that results from stonewalling is far preferable to the fallout that would result were he to follow accepted convention and release any more information.

    1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

      Re: Romney is no dummy...

      Of course, the simple thing to sort out the whole mess would be for Romney to release more than a couple of years of tax information and let people decide for themselves – a practice Romney's father followed but that the son has yet to emulate.

      With it being so simple to sort out the whole mess, it does have one wondering why Romney is such a dummy, Anonymous Coward? ........ who posted Friday 7th September 2012 01:21 GMT .... Romney is no dummy......so we can reasonably conclude that he understands that any loss of potential voter support that results from stonewalling is far preferable to the fallout that would result were he to follow accepted convention and release any more information. Does Romney think folk are stupid and cannot see a WASP fundamentalist fraud whenever it stands before them?

      White man speak with forked tongue, Kemo Sabe. Him, Great White Dope and do battle with Hope and Change Dude.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Romney is no dummy...

      You would like to think anybody that is going to hold a high level position in government would be forced to reveal their tax details for the last 10yrs, along with their ongoing expenses, as part of the job.

      I'm sure I've heard the phrase, "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" various times though that only ever seems to apply to the masses.

      1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

        Romney is a dummy straight kind of a guy ....... a clone drone of a political puppet

        And when running away from high government office, does nothing change for many with a lot to hide and avoid being accountable for, AC? ........ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/tony-blair/8999890/Tony-Blair-and-the-8million-tax-mystery.html

        One wonder why successor government wallahs in charge of tax compliance tolerate and condone such shenanigans .... other than them having a view to copying it for themselves later, of course. It is not cricket though, is it, old sport.

        When does crooked and/or dodgy and/or inequitable in all matters financial tip over into being criminal and worthy of investigation and prosecution, or is there an unwritten old boys network immunity to leadership malfeasance? There certainly appears to be one in every part of the world and that makes the Law an Ass and a Joke.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Romney is no dummy...

      Can it be proved he's not actually a dummy? I think the dummy-truthers have a right to know!

  2. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Sadly, it's almost certainly not true

    One of the neater rumours is that Romney won't release his tax returns because he committed voter fraud in 2010 to vote in Massachusetts and daren't let anyone see the reported address on his return.

    There actually is some very good circumstantial evidence that this is true: at the time, he claimed to be living in his son's Boston basement while owning a $20m mansion in La Jolla. A likely story.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Not voter fraud, but offshore accounts

      Well, I'm not sure why he would want so badly to vote in Massachusetts unless one of his kids was running for something and he really wanted to be able to vote for him. It'd have to be a pretty local office for one vote to matter very much.

      I still think the reason is because of the offshore account amnesty the IRS offered in 2009 where those who had offshore accounts they hadn't been paying taxes on could pay the back taxes they owe (and some penalties I think) but would not be prosecuted, if they declared them within the amnesty window. This would have shown up on 2009 tax returns, and would be pretty embarassing for a guy running for president.

      This seems the most likely, as it accounts for why he would only release 2010 and 2011, even though when he was vetted by the McCain campaign as a possible VP pick in 2008 he gave them 23 years worth. He'd probably be happy to make public those 23 years, but if he took the amnesty the 2009 return would be a campaign killer for him if it became public and it could be proven it was his genuine return.

      Even if someone did steal his return Romney may have requested that PWC say they found no evidence of a hack even if they did so he can try to claim that the returns eventually released are fakes. If they really do have something they'll release it at some point - they are just seeing if the Romney campaign is dumb enough to pay $1 million in untraceable hush money before they release it anyway.

      This is really the only thing that makes sense for why Romney is willing to take the heat for not releasing more years of taxes, especially when his own father set the standard for modern campaigns by releasing 12 years of returns. Any amount of heat is better than what would happen if it were shown he was illegally dodging taxes via offshore accounts. Worse yet, this would have still been going on during his previous presidential run in 2008! Even if he somehow still got elected he'd have lost all credibility to speak about any type of tax reform.

      It is kind of funny this happened, as I had been speculating to a friend about this a couple months ago and I told him that there are probably too many people who have had access to his returns that may have stashed away a copy, either at his accountant, at any banks he's given them to, or even within the IRS itself. There are some people so partisan they'd be happy to go to jail for a few years if it insured "their guy" got re-elected. I didn't expect a hacker, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

  3. 404

    Blah blah blah

    We know Romney picked on some kid in high school too, yet Obama's school transcripts, any work done as a student, professor, lawyer are verboten.

    All of them should have to submit anything and everything on the table for inspection the day they decide to run for political office. You want to 'serve the people', we should know who you are.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      WTF?

      Obama's school transcripts

      are the stupidest conservative meme of the decade.

      For the uninitiated, Republicans love to drop hints that Obama only got in to the most prestigious law school in the US despite underwhelming at undergraduate level because he was a black guy. Hence this 'release your transcripts' meme.

      The snag is real universities, unlike degree mills, recruit based on overall potential, not just exact grades. And it's a matter of public record that Obama graduated in the top 10% of his year at said hyper-prestigious school. Which to me would tend to suggest that...Harvard offering him a place despite middling grades was the right decision? But to Republicans, it's proof that RACISM AGAINST WHITE PEOPLE and WE WON'T BELIEVE YOU'RE A REAL PERSON UNLESS WE SEE YOUR TRANSCRIPTS. Or something like that.

      1. 404

        Re: Obama's school transcripts

        No.

        That man spent millions of dollars hiding his records - why spend $$$ to hide the 'fact' he's the Second Coming of Jesus Christ? You tell me. Hell, tell everyone.

        1. peyton?
          WTF?

          Re: Obama's school transcripts

          Millions in cover up? How does that work? I envision the call for such a request as something like:

          Person A: "Hello, this is Harvard"

          Person B: "Hi. I'd like a copy of the academic transcript for Barack Obama."

          Person A: "Are you Barack Obama?"

          Person B: "Erm, no actually."

          click

          That requires millions of dollars to cover up??

      2. Curtis

        Re: Obama's school transcripts

        The real reason there is so much suspicion about Barockstar's school transcript is because due to statements made by some of his classmates, he may have been registered as a foreign student. As in, not a citizen of the US. As in not eligible to be president according to the constitution.

        Of course, simple questions asked by conservatives are automatic proof of their evilness to progressives.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Obama's school transcripts

          Hey, in some countries being born in the country doesn't automatically mean you are a citizen. And that's hereditary... so some countries could theoretically be populated with nearly 100% non-citizens under that scheme :P

  4. tkioz

    Unlikely to be the real records methinks, unfortunately, because everyone should be able to see just how the man who wants to be president walks the walk, did he pay his fair share of tax? or did he exploit it to the max?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Perhaps if they are posted on Wikileaks...

    ... then the present incumbant will give Assange a "Get out Jail Free" card.

  6. Neoc

    "PWC has said that as far as it is aware nothing is missing "

    PWC, demonstrating to us its inability to understand the concept inherent in the statement "we took COPIES".

    BTW, am I the only one who thought the Killian Papers were organised by the Bush camp in order to downgrade his lack of military record?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "PWC has said that as far as it is aware nothing is missing "

      I'd say yes, you are, but sadly there are a lot of fruitcakes out there who believe completely stupid and contradictory things to justify their hate.

    2. Graham Marsden
      Devil

      Re: "PWC has said that as far as it is aware nothing is missing "

      But, but... don't you know that copying like this is THEFT! So something *must* be missing...!!!

      (Sorry, I seem to have been chanelling the MAFIAA there for a moment)

    3. Peter Gathercole Silver badge

      Re: "PWC has said that as far as it is aware nothing is missing "

      I'd spotted that, but I put it down to a bit of spin. It may be a completely true statement, but it is completely meaningless. It's probably designed to make it look to shallow thinkers as if PWC know what is going on, when in fact what it shows to anybody with half-a-brain that they clearly don't.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "PWC has said that as far as it is aware nothing is missing "

        This PWC?

        http://www.forbes.com/sites/francinemckenna/2011/02/18/satyam-settles-pwc-left-in-lurch/

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "PWC has said that as far as it is aware nothing is missing "

        How is that spin?

        Some crazy makes up a completely unsubstantiated claim (and I'll bet anyone here that it's all bollocks) and PwC is being honest in saying they have no reason to believe its true. They could have dishonestly just said the pretend perps were lying but, until the big reveal (which will not happen), they cannot be certain.

        I work for PwC and I can honestly say that the firm and members of staff take the security of client information extremely seriously. I have worked with just about every big financial services organisation in the UK and PwC's takes security more seriously than any of them. I don't know for sure that this story is false, but if it has happened to PwC, it could happen to almost any commercial organisation.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: "PWC has said that as far as it is aware nothing is missing "

          I misread it and thought you said "unsubstantiated claim that they were being honest" :P

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Romney Tax Returns...

    I wonder if there's ANOTHER reason that Bishop Romney is refusing to release his tax returns... He's now using the excuse that releasing his tax returns would be a violation of his religious freedom... EXCUSE ME? He had no problem giving John McCain TWENTY-THREE years of his tax returns when he was being considered for Vice-President in 2008, and his father set the pattern by providing TWELVE years of tax returns when HE ran for President back in the 60's... And I have yet to see where any other candidate for any office, Mormon or not, has used that particular excuse.

    As a "good" Mormon, he is SUPPOSED TO TITHE TEN PERCENT of his income to his church. What if he WASN'T tithing the full ten percent, but writing a check for somewhat less than that. What if he was only reporting/tithing on his domestic income, or his "earned" income but not his investment income, or not reporting his income from his many multiples of millions of dollars in investments held in foreign bank accounts?... The Mormon church makes no distinction between types of income. What would the church do if it turned out the good Bishop was not reporting/tithing ALL his income... Say goodbye to Bishop Mittens, soon-to-be ex-communicated, and to the Mormon vote.

    He can't afford to take that change. C'mon Anonymous... don't hold the Bishop's tax returns hostage or for ransom... just release the damn tax returns so we can see just what criminal and/or church crimes the Bishop is guilty of.... and put an end to his campaign.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Romney Tax Returns...

      What if?

      What if?

      These are capitalists, you mean He hasn't

  8. Confuciousmobil
    Pint

    But...

    Surely, if he could prove he paid less tax that would only increase his standing among Republicans?

    He can afford to buy the presidency and in America that's all that matters....

  9. Sam Liddicott

    maybe

    Maybe there is nothing to hide - but if he reveals it too soon, his opponents will focus on something else.

    he doesn't need to show his cards right now

  10. Charles 9

    Suspect it's fake.

    A TRUE insider would've dropped enough hints to show that it's authentic, such as revealing the return employed an obscure form or quoting a few salient lines from a few of the major forms, enough for someone with genuine forms to look them up and see they match and are the kinds of numbers that you just can't pull out of thin air. I haven't seen anything of the sort, so I'd have to say it's likely a hoax.

    In addition, a smart anti-Republican would not only send the copies to the news outlets but also spread them around "deregulated" nets like Freenet, i2p, and TOR Onion sites. That way, even IF I were caught and most of the news agencies squelched, anarchists that naturally harbor in these sites would naturally see what else they can do with the goods.

  11. James 100

    Greed? Fraud?

    I could understand a hard-line Democrat activist taking and releasing the data: just give it to CBS, the DNC, whatever, it gets out, it (presumably) hurts the object of their hate, job done.

    It might be a hot news scoop, if there's something important in there - any reputable media outlet would protect their source's identity (remember Deep Throat?) and I'm sure a few would pay for a good exclusive. Again, story gets out, source gets some money, job done.

    Offering it to the Republicans too, presumably to bury if there is anything secret, is much riskier for little reward: probably crossing the line into extortion - indeed, from the story they've already involved the police. Just leaking the data, even if caught, you might get away with it (Richard Armitage was never charged for naming Plame as the committee member who sent her husband to Niger, despite the big investigation that sparked) - but blackmailing? There's a cell for that.

    Bitcoin would protect the recipient, but whoever pays up would be known. If the Republicans paid up $1m to bury the "tax returns", wouldn't that be a huge incriminating story in itself? If they had the real ones, no doubt they could quote something that would confirm the authenticity: a serial number, the exact value of some specific deduction claimed, something like that. PwC's denial (assuming they don't actually mean "missing"; I'd imagine their IT people checked and there hadn't been any access to those files) seems to imply there's nothing at all to verify yet.

  12. Mark McC
    Black Helicopters

    The Killian papers killed the debate about Bush

    Including the debate about why all the non-fake documentation about his time with the Guard had mysteriously vanished from the public record. There were a lot of real questions needing answered that got buried under the hype about one cheap fake. It wouldn't surprise me if this is the same kind of damage limitation being played out again.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    kek

    Yeah, like Mittens will allow the bulk of his money to even go through the tax system, he's far too smart for that..

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    They can't have, it would be like a zero-byte file :P

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Actually

    It seems more likely he's not a true American citizen, seeing as how his Father wasn't born in America but instead in Mexico, so it could logically be concluded that Mitt himself was not really born in America and that they just faked any records of his birth in America. So he most likely doesn't have taxes returns for some of the years prior to 2010 because he was really living back in his native country of Mexico. Since we know birth certificates can be faked as we are reminded of all the time by Donald Trump, then we need more proof that Mitt Romney is really an American and a good start would be to show his tax returns to prove that he is a good, upstanding American citizen.

  16. JeffyPooh
    Pint

    Electoral-Vote.com

    Latest polls indicate Obama 332 EVs to Romney 206 EVs. It's not even close.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Electoral-Vote.com

      My God, Toyota must be happy. How much do they make by selling just one Prius these days? ;)

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    HAHAHAHAHAHA A republican, over paid Tax? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    You think i've got two heads or something?

    Yeah right and the sun is black i suppose. DURR!

  18. FrankAlphaXII
    Boffin

    Bush was not a Reservist

    Bush was a Guardsman. Yes, the Guard is a reserve component, but its not the same thing at all.

    He was in the Texas Air National Guard instead of the Air Force Reserve because they and the Army Reserve was deploying all the time, the so-called "Champagne Units" of the various states Army and Air National Guard (like the one Dan Quayle was in in Indiana during Vietnam) were permanently non-deployable so the rich kids didn't have to go fight. Nearly every single one of them cased their colors and disestablished in 1971 during "Vietnamization".

    The difference between the Guard and Reserve is who pays them, who mobilizes them, where their orders come from, and who authorizes their use. The Guard is empowered by the respective state, through the State Adjutant General, and administered through the National Guard Bureau, they're handed over to the Regular Army when they're mobilized and they're usually integrated, but not Organic, units of a Guard Division or Brigade which is generally assigned to work with another Active Duty Division or Brigade.

    The Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps Reserve components are run by the Federal Government through the various service departments. I'm in the Army Reserve, when my unit gets orders they come from Department of the Army through my unit's functional command, to my Brigade which is mostly Active Duty, to my unit. It varies depending on what Branch you're in, in my branch we don't have separate units larger than a Brigade so there's no Divisional layer.

    With the Guard its alot more complicated and cumbersome, everything has to go through NGB and the State AG. Its outdated and in all honesty the Guard needs to be folded into the Federal Reserve. We use them more than the States do anyway.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Bush was not a Reservist

      It''s possible I may agree with you, but my brain nearly exploded reading that, so actually I have no idea. Have you considered hiring yourself out to make Taliban die of despair, maybe by emailing them or something? :P

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like