PHOENIX - A tough-talking Arizona
sheriff, already embroiled in a
Justice Department bias
investigation, waded deeper into
controversy on Thursday with an
assertion that a probe by his office
found President Barack Obama's
birth certificate was a forgery.
Most Republican critics of Obama
have given up pursuing such widely
discredited "birther" allegations. But
the investigation by Maricopa County
Sheriff Joe Arpaio, carried out by
what he described as five-member
volunteer "posse," was prompted by
a request last August from a group
of conservative Tea Party activists in
the Phoenix area.
The White House has denied
repeated claims that Obama was not
born in the United States. In April
2011, Obama released a longer
version of his birth certificate to try
to put to rest speculation within
some Republican circles that he was
not born in the country as required
by the U.S. Constitution to become
president.
"A 6-month-long investigation
conducted by my cold case posse has
led me to believe there is probably
cause to believe that President
Barack Obama's long-form birth
certificate , is a computer-
generated fraud," Arpaio told a news
conference.
Arizona Democratic Party finance
director Dan Mitchell later sent out an
email seeking to parlay the sheriff's
charges into cash donations for the
party.
"Stop the ridiculous Tea Party,
birther, GOP nonsense, click here to
make a donation to the Democratic
Party now," the message read.
Obama campaign spokesman Ben
LaBolt poked fun at Arpaio on
Twitter, providing what he
described as a link to a video feed of
the news conference that instead
directed readers to the opening
credits of "The X-Files," a TV show
about paranormal activity.
Arpaio, a conservative Republican
who styles himself as "America's
toughest sheriff," called for the U.S.
Congress to investigate his findings,
which concluded that forgers
committed two crimes, first in
creating a fraudulent document and
then in fraudulently presenting it to
the public.
"I want to make this perfectly clear. I
am not accusing the sitting
president of the United States of
committing a crime. But there
remain a lot of questions which beg
for answers and we intend to move
forward with this investigation in
pursuit of those answers," Arpaio
said.
Arpaio's accusations come as he
undergoes investigation by the U.S.
Justice Department over what it says
is his widespread discrimination
against Latinos.
In December, the Justice Department
said Arpaio and his deputies violated
U.S. civil rights laws by engaging in
racial profiling of Latinos and
making unlawful arrests in their bid
to crack down on illegal immigrants.
Arpaio told reporters on Thursday
his review of Obama's birth
certificate began in August, months
before the Justice Department
investigation findings in December,
and denied that it was politically
motivated.
http://ascology.com/news/world-news/22341-Obamas-birth-certificate-fraud.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=twitter