Politics | Mitt Romney Romney Tussles With Reporter In SC, journalist challenges candidate about lobbyist By Kevin Langbaum Posted Jan 17, 2008 4:10 PM CST Copied Republican presidential hopeful, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, right, listens to a reporter's question during a media availability at a Staples store in Columbia, S.C., Thursday, Jan. 17, 2008. (AP Photo/LM Otero) (Associated Press) Mitt Romney had a dust-up with a reporter in South Carolina today, CBS News reports, when the reporter essentially accused the candidate of lying. As Romney was saying he was not beholden to lobbyists and didn’t have one “running his campaign,” the reporter interjected, “That’s not true,” referring to Romney ally and lobbyist Ron Kaufman. Video shows the back-and-forth get more animated. Romney called Kaufman a friend and adviser who was not part of his senior strategy team. AP reporter Glen Johnson pressed the issue and called Romney’s defense “utterly untrue.” After the brief gathering inside a Staples store, Johnson and Romney kept at it until Romney’s press secretary took Johnson aside and told him to “act professionally.” Read These Next Journal pulls a controversial paper on arsenic after 15 years. The sheriff says he's never seen a worse case of child sex abuse. Google exposes man's butt, is ordered to pay him $12.5K. The Wall Street Journal is naming more names tied to Epstein. Report an error