Romney’s ‘false testimony’ led to friend’s wife getting lesser alimony, claims lawyer

Washington - A celebrity lawyer in the US has won a legal battle to make public divorce papers, which include a testimony by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, what is claimed could prove a damaging blow to his campaign.

Gloria Allred, who is famous in America for representing women who have damaging stories to tell about powerful men, had been rumoured to be preparing evidence that could tip the election, currently balancing on a knife-edge, in President Barack Obama’s favour.

There have been claims that Romney’s 1991 testimony that stocks in a firm called Staples were ‘overvalued’ caused Maureen Stemberg to receive a poor settlement from the company’s former CEO Tom Stemberg - a good friend of Romney.

According to the Daily Mail, Allred headed to court in Canton, Massachusetts, with Stemberg's ex-wife to attempt to unseal Romney's sworn testimony and lift a gagging order on all parties involved.

The Boston Globe newspaper filed the application after reportedly receiving a tip-off that there was ‘juicy information about Romney’ in the sealed documents.

 â€œMs Allred's client feels that the public needs to know about Governor Mitt Romney's role in this very important case”, a source said.

“Governor Romney is running for President of the United States and this goes to a very important character issue,” the source added.

According to the report, it is unclear what if any lump sum she got out of the divorce, but it is known she was awarded 500,000 shares in the company.

There is no proof so far that Romney or Stemberg tried to mislead Stemberg or the court, but Stemberg has yet to respond to a request for comment from MailOnline.

Romney's lawyer Robert Jones has said that his client had no issues with the testimony being made public, the report said.

“This is a decades-old divorce case in which Mitt Romney provided testimony as to the value of a company,” he said, adding: “He has no objection to letting the public see that testimony.”

Sources have said that Romney provided testimony in the bitter divorce of his friend and staunch advocate, ex-Staples CEO Tom Stemberg, that meant his ex-wife received a poor divorce settlement, the report said.

He testified during the hearings in 1991 that the company's stock was 'overvalued' and that the future did not look good, it added.