CNN 2012-07-14

 Hey, I’m Anderson Cooper. Welcome to the podcast. Mitt 1 Romney's money and the political storm of where he keeps millions of it. "Keeping Them Honest", there’s also the "RidicuList". Let’s get started.

 
We begin tonight "Keeping Them Honest" with Mitt Romney's money and the political firestorm over the fact that some of it is or was invested overseas in countries like Switzerland, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands, places that are well known as tax havens 2 for the very wealthy. 
 
But the Romney campaign says that's not true for the governor. Spokesman Kevin Madden says quote "Some investments in some foreign countries can be tax havens, but Mitt Romney does not hold any such investments." 
 
"Keeping Them Honest," though, a tax shelter expert who has investigated and written an article on Mr. Romney's holdings says it's not so clear-cut. You will hear my interview with him in just a moment. 
 
It's important to point out, though, no one is accusing Governor Romney of breaking any laws, either in how he earned that money or how he does his taxes. But Democrats 3 are certainly having a field day with where some of Romney's fortune is or was invested. 
 
And this is a man who says President Barack Obama is out of touch, out of touch with the needs of the American people, this coming from a man who until recently had a Swiss bank account and millions of dollars invested in the Grand Cayman Islands beyond security, beyond scrutiny 4. And the President Obama is out of touch? 
 
That was just part of a Democratic tidal wave. 
 
... against America when he put his money in Swiss bank accounts and tax havens and shelters and also set up the secret company, the shell company in Bermuda?
 
Won't answer any questions about why he opened a corporation offshore 5 in Bermuda, why he keeps his finances offshore in the Cayman Islands, why he opened a Swiss bank account. 
 
Did you ever think you would have a nominee 6 of a major political party running for president who has significant investments in the Cayman Islands? 
 
Americans need to ask themselves, why does an American businessman need a Swiss bank account and secretive investments like that?
 
This is a guy whose slogan is believe in America. And it should be business in Bermuda. 
 
Bermuda refers to one of a series of hedge funds operated by Bain Capital, Mr. Romney's former company. 
 
We know about it from the sole complete tax return that he made public, a tax return from 2010. He's also put out an estimated tax return from 2011, but he didn't want to release anymore. And we should point out he's not legally required to at all. No candidate is. He kept his taxes private in 1994 when he ran for the Senate, during his run for governor and during his 2008 presidential campaign. 
 
This time, though, under pressure from Republican primary opponents, he did this limited disclosure. The returns and other campaign filings revealed those overseas investments which are detailed 7 in this month's "Vanity Fair" magazine. The article, the title, "Where The Money Lives," the article says Mr. Romney has a personal stake in at least a dozen Cayman companies worth as much as $30 million. 
 
In addition, "Vanity Fair" and the Associated Press did detail that hedge fund, the one established in Bermuda, that managed more than $100 million. Now for his part, Mr. Romney himself has said he pays all that the law demands in terms of taxes and not a penny more, same as anybody. His investments, he says, are in a blind trust. 
 
My investments have been held by a blind trust, have been managed by a trustee. I don't manage them, don't even know where they are. Those, that trustee follows all U.S. laws. All the taxes are paid, as appropriate. All of them have been reported to the government. There's nothing hidden there. 
 
"Keeping Them Honest," though, experts say there's no real way to know that precisely 8 or for us to know how precisely some of these investments work without more data, which the candidate obviously is not supplying. 
 
Now, when asked today whether Mr. Romney should release his tax returns, meaning more than 2010 and 2011, Congressman 9 Jason Chaffetz, who is a Republican, said he already has. "Governor Romney has been very successful," the congressman said. "Get over it."