Romney says aides’ purchasing of state hard drives was legal

By Michael Levenson , Globe Staff

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Mitt Romney today briefly reiterated his campaign’s assertion that his aides did nothing wrong when they purchased their state-issued hard drives in 2006, as they left their jobs and Romney began his first run for president.

“They all followed the law exactly as it’s written,” he said, after attempting to ignore reporters who peppered him with questions about the issue, as he left a luncheon here that was sponsored by the Union Leader newspaper.

The Globe reported on Thursday that 11 of Romney’s aides --- including his chief of staff, deputy chief of staff, and chief legal counsel – took the unusual step of buying 17 hard drives from the Massachusetts governor’s office, paying $65 for each one.

The Romney administration also wiped the server for the governor’s office and replaced the remaining computers in the office as they prepared to turn over power to Governor Deval Patrick, a Democrat.

As a result, Patrick’s office, which has been inundated with requests for records from the Romney era, has said that it has no emails from the Romney administration.

Romney did not address why his aides wiped the server, or if they were seeking to keep public information confidential. But he pointed out that his administration turned over paper records to the state archives in Dorchester.

“We actually put 700 boxes of information into the archives that wasn’t even required, so we followed the law exactly as intended and as written,” he said.

After another event at a law office, he ignored shouted questions from reporters who asked again why his aides bought their government hard drives. “Thanks, guys!” he said, walking briskly into a waiting SUV.

At the event, Romney delivered a 15-minute stump speech, touting his experience in the private sector, decrying the ballooning national deficit, and declaring confidently that if he wins the New Hampshire primary, he will win the Republican presidential nomination.

Discussing climate change in response to an audience question, he mocked the notion of asking the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.

“I disagree with that,” Romney said. “I exhale carbon dioxide. I don’t want those guys following me around with a meter to see if I’m breathing too hard.”

Romney also said he is “not terribly optimistic” that the so-called supercommittee can meet a Nov. 23 deadline to fashion a deficit-reduction deal.

He did not address one of the central sticking points in the negotiations – whether that deficit-reduction deal will include tax increases in addition to spending cuts.

Romney said his approach toward deficit reduction would focus on repealing President Obama’s health care law, overhauling Medicare and Social Security, returning Medicaid money to states, and cutting the federal payroll.