The person who recorded that now-infamous tape of Romney speaking at a private fundraiser is still anonymous, but the name of the middleman who distributed it is now public: James Carter IV, former President Jimmy Carter’s grandson.
The younger Carter found part of the video on YouTube and was intrigued, he told Chris Matthews on Tuesday’s Hardball. He contacted the anonymous uploader and, through a long online exchange, eventually convinced the mystery individual to turn the video over to David Corn, a journalist at Mother Jones.
Both Carter and his anonymous videographer agreed that the public deserved to hear what Romney was saying behind closed doors. “They thought that some of the things Romney was saying needed to be heard by a wider audience,” said Carter.
Carter, who refers to himself as an “opposition researcher,” isn’t a professional politician or journalist. Instead, he advocates for Democrats on his own time. “I’m a partisan Democrat and my goal is to get Democrats elected,” he said. “Not just at the presidential level, but to all offices.” The younger Carter evidently made his grandfather proud. “James: This is extraordinary. Congratulations! Papa,” the former president wrote his grandson Tuesday morning in an email obtained by the AP.
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