President Obama said his campaign had not accused Mitt Romney of being a felon, in a surprise appearance at the White House press briefing Monday.
"Well, first of all, I'm not sure all those characteristics you laid out there are accurate," Obama said. "For example, nobody accused Mr. Romney of being a felon."
Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said on a July campaign conference call that there were only two ways consider Mitt Romney's departure from Bain, according to Buzzfeed:
Cutter said that there were two ways to interpret the story. The first: Mitt Romney was "misrepresenting his position" at Bain to the Securities and Exchange Commission, "which is a felony."
Or, he was "misrepresenting his position at Bain to the American people. If that’s the case, if he was lying to the American people, that’s a real character and trust issue," Cutter said.
Cutter called on the Romney campaign to clear up by the issue by releasing the candidate's tax returns.
"If the SEC filings aren’t accurate, then prove it," she said.
Cutter was later challenged by Bob Schieffer on "Face the Nation" over the comments.