President 2012: John McCain’s 2008 Opposition File on Mitt Romney Hits the Internet

Happy Reading!

The Bain Consulting portion is very damning of Mitt Romney.

BAIN CAPITAL AND DREXEL BURNHAM

Romney Used Drexel Burnham Junk Bonds To Finance 1988 Leveraged Buyout, Right Around The Time SEC Officials Were Taking Formal Action Against The Company

Bain Capital Financed Mid-1988 Deal With Junk Bonds Issued By Drexel Burnham And Notorious Financier Michael Milken.

“Sometimes, when Bain Capital was looking to make a deal, the bulk of the money came not from its investors but from other sources, such as junk bonds. In 1988, for instance, Bain Capital decided to buy two Texas department store chains, Bealls and Palais Royale, in a deal valued at $300 million. To fund the purchase, Bain sought out Drexel Burnham corporate financiers, based in Boston, who were working under junk bond impresario Michael Milken. Romney and the Bain Capital partner who oversaw the deal, Joshua Bekenstein, said they never dealt with Milken.”
(Mitchell Zuckoff and Ben Bradlee Jr., “Romney’s Business Record Gives LargerPicture,” The Boston Globe , 8/8/94)
 
Two Months After Hiring Drexel, The SEC Filed Extensive Complaint Alleging Insider Trading And MarketManipulation – Romney Defended The Decision To Keep Using Drexel In Transaction.

“On Sept. 7, 1988 -roughly two months after Bain Capital hired Drexel to issue junk bonds – the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a 184-page complaint against Drexel, Milken and others alleging insider trading schemes,manipulation of stock prices and other violations of federal securities laws. Bain Capital was put in the position of trying to close a deal with junk bonds from a company being sued by the SEC. Romney and Bekenstein defended their decision to hire Drexel before the SEC suit – at a time when rumors of the investigation were rife on Wall Street – as well as after the suit was filed.”
(Mitchell Zuckoff and Ben Bradlee Jr., “Romney’s Business Record Gives LargerPicture,” The Boston Globe, 8/8/94)

And, here I thought McCain endorsed Romney – a funny game politics.