Bain Capital LLC, the private equity firm co-founded by defeated presidential candidate class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Mitt Romney , thanked its investors on Thursday for their support and patience over the last year as it confronted "political hyperbole and distortion." Romney's bid for the White House led to a broad political attack on the private equity industry, which was accused of raiding companies and cutting jobs at a time of high unemployment and growing income inequality. "We are emerging from this unusual period in our firm's history as strong as ever, and with renewed conviction about how we add value to the marketplace and society as a whole," Bain's managing directors wrote in a letter to investors, which was first reported on by the Boston Globe and a copy of which was obtained by Reuters. true Bain became the object of political and media scrutiny after Romney cited his tenure as head of the firm - between 1984 and