Does this story set off anyone else's BS detector?

[marmar]

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. ................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20120905/US.CVN.Romney.Tax.Records/

[riverbendviewgal]

1. Karl Rove is in action

such a fake story

[slackmaster]

19. Not a chance

Rove would have come up with something a lot more convincing.

[dems_rightnow]

2. Yeah, it spounds bogus.

But there are some pretty stupid people out there. If it IS true, there's no way they will get paid without some jail time.

[malaise]

3. My take

They know Dems have the goods on Rmoney's tax problems and are trying to silence Dems on the subject.

[flamingdem]

8. Hmm. Just thought that they could float false tax returns to create overall confusion

on the issue, somehow they're trying to get sympathy for Mitt.

Or they could float squeaky clean tax returns and say they're his.

It's totally suspicious and I'm sure those documents were in a safe

[malaise]

18. It is suspicious

Very suspicious

[Warpy]

4. Maybe some halfwit is trying to get rich quick

but you can bet even the hard drives Rmoney's tax returns are sitting on are in a big safe with a time lock.

[KamaAina]

5. The plot thickens...

...the $1 million was to be paid in something called Bitcoins, a supposedly untraceable online currency.

Well....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014219678

A security breach at a purveyor of virtual currency Bitcoins (BTC) has resulted in the loss of very real dollars totaling around $250,000. Bitfloor, a major banking and exchange service for Bitcoins, may be facing shutdown after nearly their entire inventory was stolen.

[Scuba]

7. Good find. This stinks to high heaven.

[limpyhobbler]

6. probably anarchists again. nt

[flamingdem]

9. yeah, Republican Anarchists!

sounds Nixonian somehow

[AnneD]

14. Exactly....

Sounds like a Rove disinformation or PSYOP campaign.

[spanone]

10. i live nearby and just saw a local news report on it.....

sounds bogus to me.....


like the local republican leader said...if it's really romney's taxes, why only a million? and why would they extort it from a local republican precinct....

but hey whaddo i know?

[jberryhill]

11. In what sense?

No, I don't think it is BS that the Secret Service is investigating the matter.

[trixicopper]

12. One. Million. Dollars.

Makes me wonder what Dr. Evil is up to these days.

[upaloopa]

13. I have always thought that someone would leak the tax returns. Maybe a hacker would break into

a computer somewhere. Copies of the returns were with the preparers, the last repug campaign, the people doing financial business with the Romney's and probably elsewhere.

Someone has the ability to get their hands on them.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

16. I want to see his tax returns too

But I don't want the law broken to do it.

[nc4bo]

15. I go back and forth with this being true or not. My suggestion is to let it drop like a rock

if it turns out to be true, I'm sure we'll know all about it.

In the meantime we can continue to ask Senor Romney where are his tax returns and what is he hiding?!

[slackmaster]

17. The corny "$1 million" ransom amount is a dead giveaway that this is an amateurish, juvenile hoax

[jsr]

20. Shade of 1986 William Clements gubernatorial campaign

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Rove

In 1986, Rove helped Clements become governor a second time. In a strategy memo Rove wrote for his client prior to the race, now among Clements's papers in the Texas A&M University library, Rove quoted Napoleon: "The whole art of war consists in a well-reasoned and extremely circumspect defensive, followed by rapid and audacious attack."

In 1986, just before a crucial debate in campaign, Rove claimed that his office had been bugged by Democrats. The police and FBI investigated and discovered that the bug's battery was so small that it needed to be changed every few hours, and the investigation was dropped. Critics, including other Republican operatives, suspected Rove had bugged his own office to garner sympathy votes in the close governor's race.

[tuvor]

21. Maybe the Obama campaign should offer to pay the ransom...?

If there is something sneaky going on, I wonder how that would play out.