Lawyers for the Boston Globe newspaper have successfully argued for the release of testimony given by the Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the divorce of American businessman Tom Stemberg.
Stemberg is the co-founder of US office supplies retailer Staples Inc. The testimony was given in 1991 by the former governor of Massachusetts and related to the viability of the Staples business.
The newspaper sought access to the testimony on the grounds that Stemberg has been a high profile spokesman for Romney’s presidential campaign.
Staples was founded in 1986 with the help of investment from Bain Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Romney. More recently, Stemberg spoke on Romney’s behalf at the Republican National Convention in August, when Romney was officially nominated as the Republican candidate.
Stemberg’s ex-wife Maureen Sullivan and Romney’s lawyer Robert Jones both said they did not object to release of the testimony.
Stemberg’s lawyer Brian Leary is reported to have described the said the divorce between his client and Sullivan as “incredibly contentious”.
The testimony was officially unsealed on Thursday 25 October
