PolitiFact analyzed the following statement by Robert Gibbs: “Nobody knows why [Mitt Romney] has a corporation in Bermuda, why he failed to disclose that on seven different financial disclosures.” After introducing the issue, PolitiFact commended two articles: “Reporting by the Associated Press and Vanity Fair teed this up. Both news organizations explored one of Romney’s overseas accounts, Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors, Ltd.”
Both articles document the absence of Sankaty from Romney’s disclosures, but come to different conclusions on whether that qualified as a failure to disclose. Vanity Fair offers support for Gibbs’s contention: “Romney failed to list this entity on several financial disclosures, even though such a closely held entity would not qualify as an ‘excepted investment fund’ that would not need to be on his disclosure forms.” But AP disagrees: “The omissions were permitted by state and federal authorities overseeing Romney’s ethics filings, and he has never been cited for failing to disclose information about his money.”
This is an excellent opportunity for a real fact check. Two creditable sources reached diametrically opposite conclusions. Whether Romney failed or not hinges on whether the Vanity Fair or AP analysis of disclosure rules is correct. Conducting a fact check that settled the disagreement would be a great way to determine whether or not there was a failure. PolitiFact, however, punted:
There is some question whether he was required to disclose this asset. In 2003, on the eve of running for governor, he put Sankaty into a blind trust. Thereafter, he disclosed the presence of the trust and might not have been required to say what was in it. It is also unclear whether the nominal value of Sankaty would be high enough to warrant disclosure.
Despite their inability to determine what Romney was or was not required to disclose, PolitiFact assigned a “True” rating to Gibbs’s statement because Romney “did not disclose it.” However, PolitiFact never documented the disclosure requirements needed to support Gibbs’s actual words that Romney “failed to disclose that.”
Until it can be determined whether the absence of Sankaty on the disclosures was proper or not, Romney’s failure, or lack thereof, is in doubt. PolitiFact’s failure is, however, doubtless. When you present yourself as a fact checker, you need to check the facts.
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