Court allows testimony by Mitt Romney in Stemberg divorce case to be unsealed

I find it troubling that court proceedings can be purged from court records.

http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2012/10/25/court-allows-testimony-mitt-romney-stemberg-divorce-case-unsealed/PYQi6CxYTGOKRhtahY83DI/story.html

By Callum Borchers 10/25/2012

Mitt Romney’s sworn testimony in a post-divorce lawsuit against Staples founder Tom Stemberg was unsealed on Thursday at Norfolk Probate and Family Court.

The suit was filed in 1990 by Stemberg’s ex-wife, Maureen Sullivan Stemberg, who sought to amend the couple’s financial agreement after Staples went public in 1989 and began trading at 10 times the stock value she had received in the divorce a year earlier. Romney, now the Republican nominee for president, testified during the lawsuit in June 1991; the nature of his testimony was not immediately clear on Thursday.

The Globe filed a motion on Oct. 15 to unseal Romney’s testimony, which was impounded along with all other case files from the Stembergs’ 10-year legal battle. Parties in the case also signed a confidentiality agreement that Gloria Allred, the attorney for Sullivan Stemberg, called “the most comprehensive gag order I have ever seen in my 36 years of practicing law.”

The Globe originally moved to amend the confidentiality agreement to allow parties in the case to speak publicly about Romney’s testimony but dropped the request on Thursday, when Stemberg — who had opposed the Globe’s request to unseal the testimony — rescinded his objection.

Allred argued vigorously for Sullivan Stemberg’s right to address Romney’s testimony publicly, saying Sullivan Stemberg was being denied her First Amendment Right.

“Out of context, [the testimony] has no meaning for the public,” Allred said. “She can put it in context.”

.....

In a hearing on Wednesday, Sullivan Stemberg had stated through her attorney that she had no objection to the Globe’s request to selectively vacate the impoundment order. Romney and Staples had taken no position because they had not reviewed the 21-year-old testimony, which had been purged from court records.

But Sullivan Stemberg had saved copies of the two-decade-old records. Allred produced two, inch-thick volumes of Romney’s testimony in court on Wednesday. Romney, Staples, and Stemberg requested and received a continuance to examine the documents, setting up Thursday’s hearing about whether they could be made public.


http://www.examiner.com/article/mitt-romney-implicated-perjury-and-stock-fraud-made-millions-process

October 24, 2012
By: Lou Colagiovanni

Mitt Romney has been implicated in a complex case involving perjury, stock manipulation, and possibly consumer fraud.

Mitt Romney lied in the divorce proceedings of his wealthy friend, Tom Stemberg, founder of Staples, according to a story by radaronline.com. At least that is what Stemberg's former wife, Maureen, says. She is a MS patient who says her husband was so vindictive he even cut off her health insurance. Unfortunately the records for this case have been sealed, and participants are unable to discuss them. Other forces are in motion to lift the gag order.

It is a matter of public record that Mitt Romney went on the stand claiming that Staples as a business was "overvalued." He also specifically said:

"I didn't place a great deal of credibility in the forecast of the company's future."

Because of Romney's testimony the court valued the corporation at a paltry percentage of its actual worth, and Maureen Stemberg was granted a tiny settlement.

Meanwhile, weeks after the divorce was finalized, Mitt Romney and his buddy Tom Stemberg sold their shares of Staples to Goldman Sachs and made millions in the process.