AZ Sheriff Responds to Tea Party Leaders Regarding Obama Eligibility Petition

Yesterday, WorldNetDaily reported that Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio “promised” to investigate Mr. Obama’s long-form birth certificate after it had been allegedly released by the White House on April 27 of this year:

Tea party leaders in Surprise, Ariz., met with Arpaio and WND senior reporter Jerome Corsi Thursday morning to express concern that a fake birth certificate would be used to document the president’s eligibility to run in Maricopa County, where Arpaio is the chief law enforcement officer.

Arpaio’s tough crackdown on illegal immigration has made him a national figure.

At a one-hour meeting in Arpaio’s office, the tea party leaders presented the sheriff with a petition that was drafted after a speech by Corsi the previous night. Corsi, author of a best-selling book challenging Obama’s eligibility, “Where’s the Birth Certificate?”, presented evidence from numerous computer-imaging specialists who believe the document presented by the White House April 27 is not authentic.

242 signatures were gathered on the petition — a call for the sheriff to investigate any improprieties regarding data submitted to the Secretary of State, the official responsible for placing qualified candidates on a ballot — during a Tea Party gathering on August 17, sponsored by the Surprise, AZ Tea Party and the Liberty Through Action organization.

Per WND, the petition states the following:

We the undersigned citizens are respectfully requesting that you initiate a criminal investigation under the authority of A.R.S. 13-2407 A-C, Into the alleged Certificate of Live Birth, File Number 151 61 10641, State of Hawaii, for Barack H. Obama II. The document was released on April 27, 2011, by the White House to the press and posted on the White House website and distributed and downloaded by computer throughout the nation, including within Maricopa County. Reportedly, several experts have declared the document to be a forgery. Reportedly, the file number may be out of sequence; “THE” appears to be misspelled as “TXE” in the State Registrar’s stamp; there appears to be a “smiley face” in the “A” in the Alvin T. Onaka, State Registrar stamp; reportedly the document has computer generated, multiple layers and is not a copy of a single layered document; font types appear to vary throughout the document, reportedly, not possible with a vintage 1961 mechanical typewriter. We urge you to continue to support the Rule of Law and to investigate and determine whether the alleged Certificate of Live Birth, for Barack H. Obama II, File Number 151 61 10641, is a forgery or an authentic document. A.R.S. 13-2407 A-C, declares that tampering with a public record is a class 6 felony.

The State statue reads accordingly:

13-2407. Tampering with a public record; classification

A. A person commits tampering with a public record if, with the intent to defraud or deceive, such person knowingly:

1. Makes or completes a written instrument, knowing that it has been falsely made, which purports to be a public record or true copy thereof or alters or makes a false entry in a written instrument which is a public record or a true copy of a public record; or

2. Presents or uses a written instrument which is or purports to be a public record or a copy of such public record, knowing that it has been falsely made, completed or altered or that a false entry has been made, with intent that it be taken as genuine; or

3. Records, registers or files or offers for recordation, registration or filing in a governmental office or agency a written statement which has been falsely made, completed or altered or in which a false entry has been made or which contains a false statement or false information; or

4. Destroys, mutilates, conceals, removes or otherwise impairs the availability of any public record; or

5. Refuses to deliver a public record in such person’s possession upon proper request of a public servant entitled to receive such record for examination or other purposes.

B. In this section “public record” means all official books, papers, written instruments or records created, issued, received or kept by any governmental office or agency or required by law to be kept by others for the information of the government.

C. Tampering with a public record is a class 6 felony.

All of the above notwithstanding, Sheriff Arpaio would have to be able to prove (beyond a reasonable doubt…?) that any such record submissions were submitted with the intent to defraud, and/or such documentation was legitimate to begin with. While there is a load of anecdotal evidence — up to and including the lack of evidence — to support these claims, no direct evidence has surfaced, to date, that conclusively proves any of these allegations.

I don’t know what the procedural rules are regarding Arizona sheriffs; Mr. Arpaio may or may not be able to force the Secretary of State’s office to do anything with the paperwork submitted for Mr. Obama’s candidacy, at least not for 2008.

However, we have entered the 2012 presidential campaign season, and any Court case, to date, have all essentially said that the time to question a candidate’s eligibility is during a campaign season.

We’ll see how it all goes down.

-Phil

phil [at] therightsideoflife [dot] comSimilar Posts:

• White House Press Briefing: “I don’t think I have anything to say on that”
• Tea Party and Lawyer Reaction to Recent Eligibility News
• Trump Releases Own Long-Form Birth Certificate
• Dem HI Gov: Obama’s Birth Certificate “Exists in Archives” But Can’t Be Produced
• Broe v. Reed: Reply to SOS, WND Reports

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