Dang.

Mitt Romney was sitting in the car with his aide Jay Garrity while Garrity was breaking the law.

Republican Mitt Romney said Monday he supports a top aide under investigation in two states for impersonating a law enforcement officer, “but this really is now in his hands.”

The former Massachusetts governor, in his first public comments on the case, described Jay Garrity as “a good guy” and cautioned against a rush to judgment.

Before taking a leave of absence last Friday, Garrity was Romney’s “director of operations,” serving as a constant traveling companion, shepherding Romney between appointments and controlling access to him. He held a similar role during Romney’s gubernatorial term.

“I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt on this and I think other people would be wise to do the same thing,” Romney told reporters during a news conference aimed at focusing attention on his second-quarter fundraising efforts. “He’s a good guy and wish him the very best, but this is really now in his hands.”

Romney added: “I’m hoping it will come out real well for him.”

[snip]

Garrity is also under investigation in New Hampshire, where he has been accused of telling a New York Times reporter who had been following Romney’s motorcade in New Hampshire last month that he had run the license plate of the reporter’s rental car, and that he should break away from the caravan.

At the time, Romney was riding in the same vehicle as Garrity.