National Journal fact checked Mitt Romney's claim that his investments (Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae) were made by a blind trust, managed by a trustee and finds Romney's position now.................
Romney answered the charge this way: “First of all, my investments are not made by me. My investments for the last ten years have been in a blind trust, managed by a trustee. Secondly, the investments that they made, we learned about this, as we made our financial disclosure, had been in mutual funds and bonds. I don't own stock in either. There are bonds that the investor has held through mutual funds.”
..........To be contrary to Romney's position on "blind trusts" in 1994:
Romney himself was a blistering critic of blind trusts when he was running for the Senate against Ted Kennedy in 1994.
“The blind trust is an age-old ruse. You give a blind trust rules. You can say to a blind trust, don't invest in properties which would be in conflict of interest or where the seller might think they're going to get an advantage from me.” Romney told the Boston Globe in 1994. "'A United States senator has an obligation to tell its blind trust what it cannot and can invest in,' Romney told the Associated Press later.
The Goldman Sachs investments referenced specifically by Gingrich were analyzed by the liberal Think Progress blog, which found that both Mitt and Ann Romney owned millions in a Goldman Sachs investment fund that invested heavily in mortgage-backed obligations. The current owners of those mortgage debts have launched foreclosure proceedings against Floridians.
Video below:
Transcripts via CNN:
• Part I: 20:00-20:30, CNN FLORIDA REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
• Part II: 20:30-21:00, CNN FLORIDA REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
• Part III: 21:00-21:30, CNN FLORIDA REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE