'He reacted like it was a dare': Mitt Romney gave 'hundreds of personal' messages to his book author

Republican Utah Senator Mitt Romney handed over hundreds of personal emails, texts and diary entries from his 2012 presidential campaign to the writer of his upcoming book, Axios reports.

Romney "secretly met" with The Atlantic staff writer, McKay Coppins over the last two years to discuss "Romney: A Reckoning," which will be published October 24.

According to Axios, Coppins conducted over 30 interviews with the former Massachusetts governor. He said, "I've been covering Senator Romney for more than a decade...When I approached him two years ago about writing this biography, I told him it would only work if he was ready to be completely forthcoming."

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In response to the inquiry, Coppins said Romney "reacted like it was a dare" but still moved forward with the process.

"I was astonished by his level of candor," Coppins said.

Axios notes that "this volume of disclosure is unheard of for a major sitting officeholder" and classifies the move as "a trove historians dream of but rarely get."

A publishing source confirmed the book "offers Romney's lively and at times devastating take on nearly every major political figure of the last 25 years."

Additionally, it "will also show Romney himself reckoning with what he considers his party's slide toward authoritarianism and what role he may have played in empowering the extreme forces within the GOP."

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