W Spann LLC was a

phantom company A dummy corporation, dummy company, or false company is an entity created to serve as a front or cover for one or more companies. It can have the appearance of being real (logo, website, and sometimes employing actual staff), but lacks the capacity ...

created at the behest of an originally unknown person by Boston lawyer Cameron Casey on March 15, 2011, apparently for the sole purpose of

anonymously Anonymity describes situations where the acting person's identity is unknown. Some writers have argued that namelessness, though technically correct, does not capture what is more centrally at stake in contexts of anonymity. The important idea he ...

donating one million dollars to

Restore Our Future Restore Our Future is a political action committee (PAC) created to support Mitt Romney in the 2012 U.S. Presidential election. A so-called Super PAC, Restore Our Future is permitted to raise and spend unlimited amounts of corporate, union, and ...

, a Super PAC supporting U.S. Presidential candidate

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusetts f ...

. After donating the money on April 28, the company was dissolved on July 12. Its given address in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

590 Madison Avenue 590 Madison Avenue, also known as the IBM Building, is a skyscraper at 57th Street and Madison Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes and Associates the 41-story, -tall tower was dev ...

, a 41-story tower, had no record of its tenancy. The address is shared by

Bain Capital Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry se ...

, of which Romney was once

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, among other companies. Alex Stanton, a spokesman for Bain Capital, denied any affiliation between the two companies. Romney's campaign did not comment on the donation. Tim Larimer, a spokesperson for

Ropes & Gray Ropes & Gray LLP is a global law firm with 13 offices located in the United States, Asia and Europe. The firm has more than 1,500 lawyers and professionals worldwide, and its clients include corporations and financial institutions, government agen ...

, the law firm which employs Casey and represents

, said the firm couldn't discuss the matter. After NBC discovered the phantom company in August 2011,

Democracy 21 Democracy 21 is a non-profit organization in the United States that aims to combat the influence of private money in politics by enacting campaign finance reform. It was founded in 1997 by longtime activist Fred Wertheimer Fredric Michael "Fred ...

and

Campaign Legal Center Campaign Legal Center (CLC) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) government watchdog group in the United States. CLC supports strong enforcement of United States campaign finance laws. Trevor Potter, former Republican chairman of the Federal Election Commi ...

, two groups that promote greater transparency in

election law Election law is a branch of public law that relates to the democratic processes, election of representatives and office holders, and referendums, through the regulation of the electoral system, voting rights, ballot access, election management b ...

s, asked the

U.S. Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

to investigate whether campaign disclosure laws were broken. Charles Spies, the treasurer of

, said that the pro-Romney committee had "fully complied with all FEC regulations, including publicly disclosing donors on our July 31 report." Ed Conard came forward as the person behind the company on August 5. Conard was a top official at Bain Capital before retiring in 2007, but still maintained an office at its Manhattan street address. It was unclear why he tried to donate via an anonymous route, as he had publicly donated to Romney's campaigns and PACs in the past, and in a 2007 media appearance he was described as a major supporter. Restore Our Future spokesperson Brittany Gross stated: "We're glad Mr. Conard has chosen to come forward putting an end to this supposed controversy. Restore our Future will amend our report per Mr. Conard's request to reflect him as the donor." However, Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center still wanted an investigation due to lingering questions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spann, W 2011 establishments in New York City 2011 in American politics Companies established in 2011 Companies disestablished in 2011 Mitt Romney 2012 presidential campaign Privately held companies based in New York City 2011 disestablishments in New York (state)