aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Romney and the bogus badges

I barely noticed the first report of Mitt Romney’s then director of communications, Jay Garrity, being investigated for impersonating a state trooper. This second time is too hard to pass up:

In an apparent violation of the law, a controversial aide to ex-Gov. Mitt Romney created phony law enforcement badges that he and other staffers used on the campaign trail to strong-arm reporters, avoid paying tolls and trick security guards into giving them immediate access to campaign venues, sources told the Herald.

The bogus badges were part of the bizarre security tactics allegedly employed by Jay Garrity, the director of operations for Romney who is under investigation for impersonating a law enforcement officer in two states. Garrity is on a leave of absence from the campaign while the probe is ongoing.

A campaign source said Garrity directed underlings on Romney’s presidential staff to use the badges at events nationwide to create an image of security and to ensure that the governor’s events went smoothly.

“They (the aides) knew the badges were fake and probably illegal,â€Â� said a presidential campaign source who asked for anonymity because the story could damage the individual’s career. “But they went along with it because Jay (Garrity) pushed it on them.”

Via Steve Benen:

How could the candidate not know?

I almost laughed at the carefully-worded statement from the Romney campaign:

“No one on the Mitt Romney for President campaign is authorized to use a badge, nor has the campaign provided anyone with a badge,” the statement reads. “Jay Garrity is not working on the campaign because he continues to be on a leave of absence.”

Well, of course civilians on the campaign aren’t “authorized” to use phony badges; it’s illegal. And of course the campaign wasn’t handing out phony badges to Romney staffers; that would be stupid.