Romney's Bain Gave Millions to Mormon Church

(Newser) – If Mitt Romney does lift the veil on his tax returns, one thing that voters will get a look at is how much he gives to the Mormon church, and the answer might be a lot more than anyone thought. ABC News finds that Bain Capital routinely cuts the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in on its deals, handing the church millions in stock—including, notably, 65,326 shares of Burger King in 2008, worth some $1.9 million. Romney's campaign acknowledges that such transactions were made at Romney's behest, but says that some of the shares may have been donated by other Mormons at Bain.

"Mitt Romney has publicly stated that he regularly tithes to his church," a spokesman said. "Any shares donated by Mitt Romney are personal shares owned by him." Romney has always been known as a major church benefactor; his family charity, the Tyler Foundation, has given more than $4 million to the church in the past 10 years. But that pales before the Bain windfalls, which have included DDi, Domino's, Innophos Holdings, and Marquee Holdings, parent of AMC Theaters.