Mitt Romney told a state electoral committee in the lead-up to his 2002 gubernatorial bid that he did not completely read his 1999 and 2000 tax forms before filing them, despite the risk of committing perjury by signing a tax document that contained false information.
Romney made his concession during a hearing on whether or not the former businessman would be eligible to run under a state law requiring a candidate to live in Massachusetts for seven years. Romney, who had lived in Utah while organizing the Olympics, failed to list evidence of his residency on tax returns filed at the time.
Romney’s testimony at the hearing was first reported by the Boston Globe in 2002.
Romney told the electoral committee that his returns were compiled by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, whom he also blamed for incorrectly listing him as a Utah resident.
The now presidential candidate’s signature appearing on a document he claims to have had little involvement in is at the heart of the current controversy surrounding Romney’s past SEC filings.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has come under intense scrutiny after it was discovered that his name appeared on forms filed after 1999, the year he claimed to have effectively left the company.
