Secret Service probing claimed theft of Romney tax records, $1M hush money demand
Sign outside PricewaterhouseCoopers office in Franklin, Tenn. / AP Photo/Erik Schelzig
(AP) FRANKLIN, Tenn. — The Secret Service said Wednesday it is investigating the reported theft of copies of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's federal tax records during a break-in at an accounting office in Franklin. Someone claiming responsibility demanded $1 million not to make them public.
An anonymous letter sent to Romney's accounting firm and political offices in Tennessee and published online sought $1 million in hard-to-trace Internet currency to prevent the disclosure of his tax filings, which have emerged as a key focus during the 2012 presidential race. Romney released his 2010 tax returns and a 2011 estimate in January, but he has refused to disclose his returns from earlier years.
Romney's accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, said there was no evidence that any Romney tax files were stolen.
"At this time there is no evidence that our systems have been compromised or that there was any unauthorized access to the data in question," PricewaterhouseCoopers spokesman Chris Atkins said.
In Washington, Secret Service spokesman Edwin Donovan confirmed the agency was investigating. The Romney campaign declined to comment, referring all questions to the accounting firm.
Franklin police said there were no recent alarms or break-ins reported at the site. "We've had nothing from that address in August," Police Lt. Charles J. Warner said.
There was no sign of forced entry at the five-story building that housed the accounting firm's local office, not far from the Cool Springs Galleria, a large mall about 20 miles south of Nashville.
The building does not restrict access during business hours and has no guard. After-hours access to the doors and elevators appears to be controlled by keycard. A spokeswoman for the building manager, Spectrum Properties, said the company would not speculate on the burglary claim.
"All of the tenants operate independently and the building is highly secured," the spokeswoman, Beth Courtney, said.
The data theft was claimed in letters left with political party offices in Franklin and disclosed in several Tennessee-area newspapers. Jean Barwick, the executive director of the Williamson County Republican Party, said employees in the GOP office found a small package on Friday with a hand-written address. The package contained a letter and a computer flash drive, she said.
Peter Burr, the chairman of the county's Democratic Party, said he received a version of the letter and a thumb drive on Aug. 27.
"I have no way of knowing this is real or not," he said. "I doubt it is, but I suppose it's conceivable."
An anonymous posting on a file-sharing website said the returns were stolen Aug. 25 from the accounting firm's office. After "all available 1040 tax forms for Romney were copied," the posting said, flash drives containing encrypted copies of his pre-2010 tax records were sent to the firm and to Republican and Democratic party offices.
The group threatened to divulge the tax files by late September unless it was paid $1 million.
Barwick and Burr said they turned over the materials to the Secret Service.
"The agents said there wasn't a whole lot they could say, but they agreed that bizarre stuff during campaign season isn't exactly unusual," Burr said.
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How did the hackers know that Romney's records would be accessible in that particular PriceWaterhouse office? If the Romney returns were not accessible there then PriceWaterhouse would have said so and that would have been that.
Do you think that PriceWaterhouse makes a copy of every customers tax returns and have them accessible to every single office of theirs in the world?
PriceWaterhouse has many employees who are making peanuts. They are a revolving door for accounting graduates working on their CPA's license. You can be assurred that there is a fair chance that some of the employees who touched or had access to Romney's tax returns are not Romney supporters.
You can also rest assurred that PriceWaterhouse has no incentive at all to admit the truth if there really was a break in. If this is real they will deny there is a problem until the day Romney's returns are released.
Clearly the demand for a million dollars is rediculous. The crackers won't touch the money even if it was offered. The demand was calculated to increase news interest, and to help legitimize whatever is released.
While this does on the surface sound like a hoax, the fact that the Romney camp and PriceWaterhouse didn't immediately dismiss it as rediculous, and brought the Secret Service into it, lends legitimacy to it.
The cracker would never send an actual encrypted copy of the returns with a million dollars at risk. if the encryption was broken they lose any chance of getting their million. Instead the cracker probably took a file of random bits and encrypted that.
At this point if the cracker releases tax returns that are completely manufactured out of thin air, the damage has been done.
The GOP has decided that they must release Romney's tax returns, because withholding them is alienating voters. They don't want it to seem as though Mitt was pressured into it, so they've staged a "theft" to make Mitt seem like the "victim." After this, Romney may begrudgingly release them on his own, or they may be "leaked."
OBAMA / BIDEN 2012!!!!!!!
I have taken a serious look at Romney and have decided that he is not the right choice for the country at this or any other time. I also admit that the president has made some mistakes but he has also made progress.
Why is deducting office space rental a loophole? It isn't a loophole it's a burden. In my company I, my partner, and all employees work out of our homes. My partner and I would rather pocket the lease money for office space and pay the taxes on it than put the money into a so-caled "loophole" With modern communications technology there's no need for an office. (hopefully the other business owners who commented aren't office building owners, sorry if you are, guys)
I heard Obama's October Suprise is a strike on Iran. Are you cool with that?
LOL!
Definitely a Obama follower. They are the only ones obsessed with Romneys Taxes and Underwear.
To the followers of Obama, extream wealth is anyone who makes over 250K a year.
Just another example that those who have gets!
There are several problems with this alleged crime:
1) Anonymous wouldn't ask for money.
2) Real blackmailers would ask for alot more than $1 million
3) Romney's tax returns may be more valuable to the Democrats UNRELEASED.
4) The GOP's announcement of this during the DNC (when it allegedly occured weeks ago) is suspicious.
5) The accounting firm denies such a theft occured.
So, I believe the whole thing is a GOP concoction. My suspicions:
The GOP has decided that they must release Romney's tax returns, because withholding them is alienating voters.
They don't want it to seem as though Mitt was pressured into it, so they've staged a "theft" to make Mitt seem like the "victim."
After this, Romney may begrudgingly release them on his own, or they may be "leaked."
Sounds like Rove at work. . .