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Subscribe to RSSMassachusetts will make available to the public hundreds of boxes of documents from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's term as governor that have long been locked away, the state said Tuesday. The same agency that is opening the files said it would not pursue an inquiry into the purge of electronic records at the end of Romney's term.
The moves come after disclosures that Romney had authorized the purging of emails and other closely-held electronic records at the end of administration.
The decision by the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth will ultimately make available more than 460 boxes of documents stored since 2006 in the state archives in south Boston. They were closed to public inspection because of legal uncertainty over the impact of a court ruling that said Massachusetts governor's records were not subject to disclosure.
Slideshow: Mitt Romney's public life
Romney's presidential campaign aides recently cited that decision to justify the deletion of files from Massachusetts email servers at the end of his governor's term in 2007. Romney also allowed aides to buy and remove their government hard drives and authorized the replacement of leased computers in his executive offices.
A commonwealth spokesman, Brian McNiff, said agency officials decided last week to open up the archived records after a legal review that began last spring, as media and political groups have been pressing for access to the records.
Ross D. Franklin / AP
In this Dec. 6, 2011, photo, Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a campaign event in Paradise Valley, Ariz.
"The decision was made that all of Gov. Romney's records would be made available," McNiff said.
McNiff also said Tuesday that the commonwealth would not pursue an inquiry into the purge of electronic records even though Massachusetts officials have concluded that state law required Romney's aides to have maintained the records.
Both Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Galvin and his top legal counsel, Laurie Flynn, said recently that governor's records must be preserved under state schedules even if they do not have to be disclosed. But McNiff said there would be no examination of the circumstances surrounding the electronics records purge, which was first reported last month by the Boston Globe. McNiff would not elaborate on that decision.
Romney recently acknowledged that he approved the electronics records purge at end of his term because of concerns that the records might include confidential materials. Eric Fehrnstrom, a senior campaign adviser, said that the GOP presidential contender submitted more than 630 boxes of paper files to the state archives in late 2006 in what he said was the interest of transparency.
McNiff said that the newly released boxes of documents could be viewed only five boxes at a time, and any request to review the new material would require what he described as a short delay while archives officials reviewed the files and censored confidential material.
Story: Romney snags another endorsement from GOP leadership member
The documents will be reviewed in light of the 1997 Massachusetts high court ruling that exempted governor's records from state public disclosure laws. McNiff said that Romney's representatives would not be consulted during the redaction process. "They're not involved," he said.
A Romney campaign spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, noted that Romney had sent the materials to the state archives with the intent of making them available to the public.
An Associated Press examination of much of the available Romney archives holdings earlier this year suggested the material available then was far from comprehensive. More than 75 cartons reviewed by the AP included staff and legislative documents but no internal records written to or from Romney himself — except for ceremonial bill-signing and official letters.
News organizations have pressed to view the archived Romney files. Also, the Democratic National Committee recently submitted three open-records requests to current Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, seeking to learn more background about the Romney administration's purge of emails and other electronic records.
Romney's campaign, meanwhile, has asked Patrick's office for any evidence of collusions between his staff and Obama re-election officials.
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There shouldn't be too much in these records. For a lot of his term, especially the last year, he really wasn't doing much except running for president. He lost interest in being governor fairly early in his term
But there would have to be two boxes for ever issue at least. One "for it" and one "against it" perhaps a third box for "other".
"Romney's campaign, meanwhile, has asked Patrick's office for any evidence of collusions between his staff and Obama re-election officials."
They smell a rat from Obama's campaign staff.
Rev,
sounds like you're talking about Obama, except Obama goes on a lot of vacations + golf jaunts coupled with his lack of interest. ( i.e. he was MIA when the Super Committee was failing etc.)
Roy, you really need to take up a hobby other than posting stupid statements on the vine.
To date Bush has taken more golfing vacation than Obama.
Wouldn't those emails be retrievable via the state's ISP? Deleting from the hard drive, from what I've read about criminal prosecutions, doesn't necessarily make them vanish.
State stuff is probably highly encrypted and protected.
Kostoniann: They sold the computers for chicken feed, the hard drives went with them. Also, there's no criminal investigation, so they wouldn't be scanned anyway. You can't simply demand this info for political reasons, which is what the libs intended. You can suspect till the cows come home, but unless someone comes forward with allegations it's a done deal, legally.
How can ANY of you defend this mans actions? HE DELETED RECORDS!!!!
ITS OBVIOUS HE HAD SOMETHING TO HIDE.
But of course this is Newsvine, and insteadd of thinking for yourself, you're going to spew the anti Obama/Bush Talking points of your respective parties. This is disgusting people. How about this, let's have a CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION and see if we can't figure out WHY he deleted those emails!!!
Right or left doesn't matter folks, all politicians (except for a very small number like Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders) are corrupt. And this is how they keep the people down, fighting each other until the drums sound, instead of doing our job. KEEPING OUR GOVERNMENT IN CHECK.
Ever heard the phrase
"Governance comes only by the consent of the governed?" Well if you haven't look it up. Because this country is going down the toilet and if we Dont have these crooks thrown out of office we're going down with them.
Workingpoor 237 said:
But there would have to be two boxes for ever issue at least. One "for it" and one "against it" perhaps a third box for "other".
Nah, he keeps those in the bottom of his closet next to all his Flip Flops...
....kinda full in there though
While it SHOULD be a crime, it happened in our state as well and gee ... it was also a republican... Mike Huckleberry had all the hard drives removed when he left office (and left the repair bills for the state to pay). He claimed he was afraid they contained social security numbers, etc... Bullocks...
Then he also wiped clean the state police computer that held all the flight records for our state plane that he literally wore out flying all over the country for his campaign, but he would always find some little stupid stop to make that he would justify it as state business. Same for when he took the plane to his lake vacation home. When he left, the plane had to be scrapped and the state had to buy a new one.
So my point is, this is ALL illegal, but nobody does anything about it.
And Roy???? take a pill... you aren't up to snuff on your latest comment.... Romney is simply deflecting HIS illegal moves by talking about Patrick...
I can just see the wanna be cub reporters salivating at the thought of long hours going through these materials hoping to find an aha! on Romney. The problem is they have no interest in honest government just in making a name for themselves. I predict the more politically driven media outlets will find a lot of information to take out of context.
Mitt is just another politician. Even if there wasn't anything bad, it's worse now.
Well, what do you know...the Obama administration, DNC and lamestream media trying to dig up dirt. Nothing new here.
Well, what do you know...the Mass. Governor, RNC and Faux News trying to suppress dirt. Nothing new here.
So in 1997 the Massachusetts high court ruled that the records were not open to the public but now some low level Secretary of the Commonwealth changes the rule? What is with the state of Massechusetts? They seem to change their rules in favor of the left every time it is convenient. Uncle Teddy would be so proud. I wonder if we will ever see any evidence of President Obama's school records or how the hell he paid for his excellent education?
Why? He's not going to be the nominee.
JH-479998 " I wonder if we will ever see any evidence of President Obama's school records or how the hell he paid for his excellent education?"
We can find the SAT scores (IQ) for past presidents, but no information at all for Obama. We do know that Obama did not graduate 'with honors' from high school (But Sarah Palin did), and we know that G W Bush had a higher SAT score (IQ) than John Kerry, Bill Clinton, and John F. Kennedy, and that if Obama had a SAT score even 100 points below Bush's score, he could have gotten into an Ivy League college after high school, but he didn't - he had to go to lesser colleges first and then transfer.
Roy,
Not just the American liberals but the whole world is bent on propping up Obama because they want to turn the U.S. into a socialist system.
Don't forget, the European Socialists gave Obama a Nobel Peace Prize for doing nothing.
Affirmative Action?
Indict Reagan for lying to Congress,Bonzo was actually co-habitating with him while Ronnie co-operated with the McCarthy investigations.....
King George, II could have a million diplomas and he could ace every test under the Sun but surely you don't need somebody to tell you how he screwed up every aspect of our economy. The job market, the housing market, the stock markets, the bond markets, the auto industry, almost all of private industry (with the exception of his cohorts in the oil industry and the war industry), and all of the public service industry suffered as they never suffered before our Nation had to endure the two failed reigns of King George, II. Now the GOP, with their boots on the throat of the economy, are whining, "why can't Obama fix The Second Great Depression faster? I know some of you with selective memory find it hard to remember the failed policies of the GOP's last selection. But try to remember that the GOP caused the Depression and they have done everything to keep te economy depressed and the people oppressed. Facts are facts and there is no disputing: GOP and their failed policies have caused two Great Depressions and the Democrats, whether you like them or not, have caused zero Great Depressions!
Yet it took Sarah half a dozen colleges to graduate with a simple degree. For someone that graduated from high school with honors, she should have known that Africa is a continent. Guess the pretty girl had someone earn her an education, eh?
Remind us again who is President and who isn't.
I would be willing to bet that george II cheated on the SAT tests...........
Yea G-9 the Republicans made people purchase houses they couldn't afford and the Republicans signed the NAFTA bill that started the mass exodus of manufacturing jobs after the unions killed the Steel industry and sent all those jobs to China. We are still in this economic funk because 2/3 of the economy is dependent on consumer spending and after the consumers cashed out their houses time and time again then don't have anymore equity to cash out anymore. So before you spew out your hateful liberalism do some research.
right, blame the unions,
"The world steel market is perhaps the most distorted industrial market in the world. To achieve economic and political objectives, many countries have pursued industrial policies aimed at nurturing a steel industry with trade protection and subsidies.
In contrast, the United States steel industry has generally not been the recipient of such special treatment. The U.S. economy is open and subsidies have been very limited, especially when compared to those of other major industrial countries. In the 1970s and 1980s, the U.S. steel industry had serious competitive problems, but $50 billion in new investment has built an industry with some of the highest productivity levels and lowest costs in the world."
Romney is the Man !!! 2012 ! My vote is yours.
mine too.
Mr Flip Flop has a problem. And I could be talking about Romney OR Newt.
@lib50 - That's a none issue. People evolve, just like you. Its called life, and people change. The things that he has changed on are normal things you can change in. Its note a core value that should be the same. -- people just don't get it, but I hope they do soon.
Tell that to John Kerry, Jari. Both Newt and Romney blow with the wind.
Amazing how the Left is so afraid that Obama is going to lose in 2012, that any possible opposing candidate is slurred for any reason. Too bad the media weren't so diligent in 2007-8.
Naa, just trying to save some money, the quicker we pick them off the less we have to spend......the entire GOP/TP is a joke so it is not hard to bring them down.
......and Obama has a billion dollars to smear everyone.
Don't worry, Leona, the corporate elite plutocrats have millions to buy the election for the teapubs. Should be a cake walk for them, unless they nominate somebody from the clown posse. On second thought, maybe you should worry, the entire lot of them are clowns.
Lib50,
Let's seeeeee.......you would vote AGAIN for a FAILED President ( the country be dam#$%) and you're calling the Republicans "clowns."
You liberals labeled Obama "brilliant" and he FAILED .
So, I am guessing if you liberals are calling someone a "clown", he/she will probably do the job just fine.
You Libs are always wrong and your Lib policies never work. Look at Greece.
Maybe because Greece was stupid and didn't wanna pay taxes. Having goods and services is good but when the people duck out on paying the bill eventually the people suffer in the end.
and when the clown posse and its mittwitts are defeated in 2012,will the rich and their corporate minion tea buggers leave Amerika,take their $,and go where they can make some real "unregulated" profits??Bet Sarah Payenmyliens and followers will follow. Say do you think she can become the vp nominee again,we'd sure appreciate her as an added attraction on the ticket,she just adds so much to the field of huckabbbeees....ha hahaha
chiyochan,
There isn't enough tax money ( even if they all paid their taxes) to fill in the gap for all the entitlements in Greece.
Anything that govt. gets its hands on, goes broke. Look at our postal service.
Leona, you're outclassed. Give it up.
Tony,
Being outnumbered is not being outclassed.
Being this IS newsvine, any conservative should figure on automatically being outnumbered.
Hey Nick - what do you know....another GOPer erasing data - some things just havn't changed since the Nixon era..nothing new here!
b dune
Does Sandy Berger ring any bells? Yup nothing new here.
JH
pretty desperate stretch on your part don't you think.....that's nothing new for you though, eh?
b dune
What's a stretch? You claim GOPer's erase data, data that was never to made public anyway, and I point out that dems just steal it and destroy it from the National Archives. But it's nothing new for you to ignore facts is it?
I dont' expect there to be any interesting revelations given that the Governor and his staff had the opportunity to scrub all the records before sending them to state archives and that they will be released in small amounts following a final scrubbing before disclosure. This is the complete antithesis of transparent government. If one is afraid someone will be embarrassed by what is in the records, maybe someone should be embarrassed by what they did.
My thoughts exactly......of course release them now.....all scrubed and ready for reading.
I wonder why Obama's records can't be realeased? I guess the White House direct connection to the current Governor of Mass. didn't have any bearing on this document dump.
Dan G.: This article is about public records released. President Obama's personal records are not public records.
Dan G
it's never to late to try to educate yourself.....but I'm sure it won't make much of difference with you
What records do you want.........?
It wouldn't matter if he released his school records you wouldn't believe them anyway, ie birth certificate. Your just a believer in the right wing Glenn Beck propaganda
We can't even get the current White House to release a full list of White House visitors over the past 3 years - especially with Attorney General Eric Hold'em in charge of "justice" in this country. The stonewalling from the current administration is mind-boggling.
Funny how Obama ran on transparency and this administration has been everything but
He sounds like a dead beat governor, what gives him the qualifications to run for president.
because he's a Republican who has no intentions of following through on anything he promises...
b dune - Obama is a democrat, How's his follow through working out for us? GITMO, Patriot Act?
JH - so you are admitting Republicans are making promises they have no intentions of keeping....thanks for the assistance...
I will never understand the mind of a liberal. You people can and do twist everything you hear. How exactly did I ADMIT anything? I STATED that President Obama has not followed through on his promises. I guess I need to drop my IQ about 100 points to catch up with b dune.
Agreed and agreed but congress was also the worst congresses ever. Everything went from bad too worse and you can't work with both sides of the field when both camps are farther apart then ever before. I do blame democrats in the first 2 years of playing the same political games republicans did before hand.
JH
if you dropped your IQ 100 pts you would be on life support...
you indeed acknowledged repubs would not adhere to their promises by comparing them to Obama having not kept his...
nice spin on your part though...
btw - I like the "you people" tag - seems teapublicans use that phrase for just about everyone...
Rev is correct. Mitt didn't do anything notable either way except approve the MA healthcare program.
He was pretty much absent the last 2 years of his term as govenor.
Romney looks guilty of something, this should be illegal...this is the states paperwork not his!
Considering Mittens has been running for President for 6 years now, they are only now just making these available.
The good news is. . . Newt is ahead of Romney. The bad news is. . . Newt is ahead of Romney. Geesh! I will be voting third party AGAIN at this election!
I just wish there was an actual, honest-to-god candidate with a CLEAR vision, the where-with-all, and the backbone to actually be worth voting for.
Ron Paul 2012
He should be held accountable for this, because this will allow other governors to do this shred paperwork that shows how the state was run. This is so wrong! An important Wrong. That will never be corrected.
It still comes down to, print the crap you want the public to see... delete the crap your hiding.
I am reminded of President Nixon..... that worked so well for him. It is a shame mitt was not around to tell Nixon to just burn all of the tapes.
What is Romney trying to hide ? Reminds me of the Nixon years.
The current brouhaha in the Republican Party is clearly showing a right wing mindset that is sinister, self-centered, vile, dark, greed driven, racist, and reactionary. They aren't about lower taxes; they aren't about the good society; they aren't about America working together. They're about forcing Americans into the cancerous, miserable, hate centered, cesspool in which they live. That is their goal for Americans. The GOP is in a civil war with these people. Let us hope and pray the old GOP can win this struggle. If not, the GOP will become the political arm of the right wing militias, a mindset that is clearly evident in many of the posts on this website.
John McCain said last night the Republicans are losing the argument.......looks like it here too.
I have a good idea for a Romney ad......
Have Obama's voice in the background: "this country succeeds when everyone gets a fair shot"
and in the ad , we hear the voice of a voter saying....."Hey Mr President, how can us folks get a fair shot when you Democrats are a bunch of cheats ?"
Then we see Blago, Holder, Pelosi, Geitner, Corzine, Weiner, Rangel, and Waters.....the D.C. Democrat poster politicians who represent tax cheats , insider traders and funneling money.
ABO
two words........GLASS HOUSE
Pelosi should have "drained the swamp" when she had the chance. LOL
Oh WAIT................she would have had to "drain" herself OUT too !!!!!!
Leona, You were for mitt care before, now against it? Is it because the name changed to obama care? And we can see the two faced con's, newt, cantor, boner, mcconnel, mccain, kyl, craig, etc etc. Wake up you silly twit, both parties are crooks.
Now now, no name calling, Sally Ann, your President wouldn't like it. LOL
BTW, did I say I was for "Mitt care?" NO, I didn't, so stop making stuff up.
Now if Obama would finally release his transcripts and other records.
amen.
Do you really care what President Obama's transcripts say or is it because you can't see them for yourself that you feel the need to whine?? Just like his Birth Certificate.
Economy,
President Obama graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard, that has been verified by Harvard themselves. Obviously you don't realize that you have to have at least a 3.64 GPA to graduate with that designation. Someone eariler commented on how he paid for college, he has stated many times that he got loans and scholarships. All of the conspiracy theory's concerning his education were debunked a long time ago, I am embarrased for you for continuing to bring it up.
What good is tons of paper when important emails in Romney administration are wiped out intentionally?
What is Romney hiding?
Can Romney be trusted?
If he becomes the next US president will he not wipe computer records again?
Some people on here are showing they are bias against the President. Better look at what happen in 2008 with the Bush Administration before you stat blaming the current office holder for our problems. By the way most if not all emails are backed up and only the Email or Network Admin can purge them from the system but usually the backups are never touched and are moved off site to a secure location. I would suggest that instead of these records,which may shed some light on Romney's Administration but probably not much, the press stop screwing around and ask for these backup files.
Obama's administration and Holder's DOJ stonewall Congress when they are asked for documents (i.e.Solyndra, Fast and Furious , etc) , but no one cares here at Msnbc. Why is that?
Hey, maybe we should ask Chuck Todd, Chris Matthews, Larry O'Donnell, Rachel Maddow , Al Sharpton and Ed Schultz??
LOL
Leona, what about Bush/Cheney's documents? Hey maybe we should ask Faux Noise and queer limpballs?
LOL
hey Sally,
you need to get in your time machine and go back 4 years and scream all you want about the Bush/Cheney documents.
Guess what, no one cares about it in 2011 except historians !
Normal people are worried about what is going on NOW.
This is criminal! Romney should be arrested for destroying public records...outrageous!!!
Obama/Biden 2012,2013,2014 & 2015!!!!
The deleted "scrubbed" e-mails and records from Mitt's only administration would probably shed light on exactly how his family "made" their fortune. I'm betting his grandfather probably found Joseph Smith's Golden Tablets and melted them down for cash years ago. Psshhh.... Mormonism, what the hell is that anyway!!? If Jim Jones was still alive, he'd probably be another Republican contender with another cult following equal to Newt Brain, Willard and Cain, etc.
Merry,
Ummmmm, do I hear a liberal bashing religion again????
I thought you libs were so tolerant ! ( NOT)
LOL
No Leona, I don't tolerate all the intolerant crap that most religions preach and practice. And drop the "LOL" by the way , only jackasses bray at their own perceived humor.
Prankster; remember the right no longer can bray on their own,they "outsourced" all braying to their lawn crews...comprende?
hey merry,
Your religious intolerance is only exceeded by the Iranian police. LOL
BTW, I'll laugh whenever I want. If you don't like it, don't read what I post.
This is still a free country, or did you liberals forget that?
Wow, it must su#$ to be a liberal.
Liberals are the most hateful intolerant people in the country.