About a month ago, we learned about a bizarre situation in which one of Mitt Romney’s top campaign aides came under investigation for allegedly impersonating a state trooper. According to reports, the senior aide, Jay Garrity, allegedly pulled over a New York Times reporter in New Hampshire and said he had run his license plate. He also reportedly called a private company, threatening to cite the driver of a company van for erratic driving
Garrity, who was director of operations on Romney’s presidential campaign and a constant presence at the former governor’s side, quietly stepped down from the campaign to tend to his legal troubles. The whole thing was odd, but it was hard to blame Romney too much for the inexplicable actions of one member of his staff.
But what if it wasn’t just one?
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,” 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.”
One guy allegedly impersonates an officer? Romney has plausible deniability. A whole group of aides are all given phony badges, which they’re encouraged to use? Romney starts to look like he’s the head of some kind of criminal enterprise.
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.
The question is whether the candidate’s director of operations distributed them unofficially, whether they were used, and whether Romney was aware of the whole scheme.
Note to political reporters: this story is far more interesting than John Edwards’ hair, Hillary Clinton’s clothes, and Barack Obama’s opinions on kindergarten curricula.
