Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Did Michelle Obama Just Confirm Barack Is An Indonesian Citizen?

Wow. Sen. Barack Obama doesn't acknowledge in either of his autobiographies that he was adopted by his Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, and American news reports have always skirted the issue despite the existence of school records from Indonesia showing that his name had been changed to Barry Soetoro and that identify him as an Indonesian citizen. Angered by reporting in the African media about her husband's campaign, WorldNetDaily cites an African news media report as saying Michelle Obama telephoned an African reporter and during the interview acknowledged Barack was adopted by his stepfather. Quoting from African Press International, Michelle Obama is reported to have said:


African Press International is supposed to support Africans and African-American view," she reportedly said. "It is strange that API has chosen to support the racists against my husband. There is no shame in being adopted by a stepfather. All dirt has been thrown onto my husband's face and yet he loves this country. My husband and I know that there is no law that will stop him from becoming the president, just because some American white racists are bringing up the issue of my husband's adoption by his stepfather. The important thing here is where my husband's heart is at the moment. I can tell the American people that my husband loves this country and his adoption never changed his love for this country. He was born in Hawaii, yes, and that gives him all the right to be an American citizen even though he was adopted by a foreigner.

Sen. Obama has deliberately avoided disclosing his adoption by his Indonesian stepfather. The Harvard law graduate understands the constitutional implications of not being a "natural born" citizen and the disqualification that not being one poses to becoming president of the United States. It is shocking that Michelle Obama would so matter-of-factly acknowledge a fact that her own husband has to date never acknowledged as true. A prominent Democratic attorney, Philip Berg, claims in a federal lawsuit he has filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania that Obama is not a "natural born" citizen and, therefore, ineligible to run for president. In his most recent court filing, Berg claims that Obama's birth actually took place in Kenya and not Honolulu, Hawaii as Obama has claimed, further raising doubts about his status.

It is a bit ironic that Michelle Obama would label people who have raised this legitimate constitutional issue as "white racists." Isn't this the woman who for more than twenty years sat in the pews of a black separatist church that preached racist views towards white people? Let's now sit back and watch as our American news media continues to pretend this issue doesn't exist despite Michelle Obama's acknowledgement of her husband's adoption by a citizen of a foreign land.

You can view the original online report from the African Press International by clicking here.

UPDATE: Another citizen lawsuit has been filed in the State of Washington challenging Obama's "natural born" status.

UPDATE II: In a series of e-mail exchanges with WorldNetDaily's Jerome Corsi, the African Press International maintains the authenticity of its interview with Michelle Obama, even claiming an audiotape of the interview exists. The API has not made the audiotape available online yet but says it will in due course. See API's response to the fraud allegations alleged by Obama's campaign here. Corsi initiated the e-mail exchanges after the Obama campaign told the NRO's Byron York that the interview with Michelle Obama never occurred. Note that whether the interview is real as claimed by API, it does not change the fact that school records in Indonesia identify Obama by the name Barry Soetoro and identify him as an Indonesian citizen. The Obama campaign has never addressed how his name was changed or why he was listed as an Indonesian citizen.

Here's the e-mail exchanges with Corsi and API as posted on America's Right Blog:

From: Jerome Corsi
To: [Address Blocked]
Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 5:27 PM
Subject: J.Corsi on Michelle Obama story

Jim

I am the person who called you about your Michelle Obama article today. You refer to me in the article -- We are getting inundated by our readers to know if the story is true. Did you record Michelle Obama and can you release to me the audio tape.This is very important. Please get back to me immediately.

Jerome R. Corsi
Senior Staff Reporter
World Net Dailyhttp://www.worldnetdaily.com/

From: African Press International (API)
Subject: Re: J.Corsi on Michelle Obama story
To: [Address Blocked]
Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2008, 11:53

AMI want to thank you for your email.

API hereby confirms to you that the story is true and if the huge interest on this particular story continues, we will post the recording on our website in the next immediate days.When we published the story we did not intend to cause any chaos but we are shocked by the huge interest the story is receiving from the Americans and the American Media.

Mrs Obama called us just to ask API to stop joining the mainstream hate online media that is trying to destroy her husband's opportunity to get the presidency.

Our editorial will sit today and agree on how to release the information that will verify the story.Very many media outlets are asking us to email them the recording but we think the best way to satisfy all at once is by publishing it on our website and people can retrieve it themselves.We understand the urgency this may have but it is important for us that we do it right so that we do not land into problems with Obama's just like you did while in Kenyan recently.

Yours Sincerely,
Chief Editor Korikr

From: Jerome Corsi
To: African Press International (API)
Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2008 6:45 PM
Subject: Re: J.Corsi on Michelle Obama story

If you have a recording of Michelle Obama it is imperative you make it available now. We at World Net Daily are getting inundated with requests to prove your story is true.

Jerry Corsi
World Net Dailywww.worldnetdaily.com[number blocked]

From: African Press International (API)
Subject: Re: J.Corsi on Michelle Obama story
To: [Address Blocked]
Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2008, 12:57 PM

To Jerome Corsi,

We do not want to be misunderstood. We are not out to stop Obama from capturing the presidency.We are not here to prove to people the story, but we will give proper verification so that people will understand that the story is true.Soon, when we come with more information on the site, those who doubt the story will be surprised why Mrs Obama would choose to talk to us and not other media outlets.We will bring out information on how she was connected to us, how she was convinced her story was safe with us and why she trusted API. And who introduced her to those who contacted API first before she personally took contact in an effort to ensure that API does not publish things on her husband that may be seen to be harmfull.If we start dishing out audio to media outlets, we will be misunderstood. We do not want people to think that we published the story in order to spoil Obama's chances to become the president.Those who are contacting you demanding that the story should be verified now, should be directed by your media to check our website in the next day or two. All the information will be made available, but we must do it carefully.

Regards,
Chief Editor KorirAPI

From: Jerome Corsi
Subject: Re: J.Corsi on Michelle Obama story
To: "African Press International (API)"
Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2008, 1:24 PM

Chief Editor Korir,

I understand your position. You should be aware that the reaction of my publishers and what I am getting from various news editors contacting me is that this may be a hoax. Your credibility and the credibility of your story will be increasingly in question the longer you postpone making a tape available. Right now, the Obama campaign is telling us that you are lying and that Michelle Obama never made any such call to you.I convey this to you as a fellow journalist prepared to believe that what you published is true. Now that it has been called into question, please do not hesitate to prove your authenticity and the truthfulness of what you published.

Respectfully,Jerome R. Corsi
World Net Daily[Number Blocked]

From: Jerome CorsiSubject:
Re: J.Corsi on Michelle Obama story
To: "African Press International (API)"
Date: Wednesday, October 15, 2008, 1:44 PM

Mr. Korir,

This is what is running on National Review Online right now. The Obama campaign is denying your report and in the USA your API is being disregarded as untruthful:

National Review OnLineWednesday, October 15, 2008That Michelle Obama Report [Byron York]

I'm sure a lot of you have seen references this morning to statements allegedly made by Michelle Obama in an interview with an organization called African Press International. I just asked the Obama campaign whether Michelle Obama did in fact speak to that organization, and spokesman Tommy Vietor answered:

The answer is no, it's not real, the report is made up. She did not speak to the organization.
Check it out here: http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YWM2MDA2NzZkNzdjNWMzZGFlOGJiZGUxMzNhYjJkZDI

I encourage you to come forward with proof as soon as possible, including any Michelle Obama tape recording you may have. Otherwise, your report and your publication will soon be considered "discredited" in the USA by the Obama camp response.

Respectfully,
Jerome R. Corsi
World Net Daily

6 comments:

Sir Hailstone said...

Oh what a constitutional crisis this would be ... if he were elected only to discover he is not eligible under the US Constitution to serve.

So let's say on the assumption he was really born in Hawaii, and became a naturalized Indonesian citizen, adopted by Mr. Soetoro, does Indonesia allow dual citizenship with the USA? Does Indonesia require renouncing all previous citizenships to become a citizen of their nation? Did he renaturalize as a US citizen?

You're an immigration attorney Gary - what countries can a US citizen be a dual citizen and which ones cannot? I only know of Canada and Israel as dual citizenship nations with the USA.

Gary R. Welsh said...

Dual citizenship is not looked on with favor but it is also not prohibited under U.S. immigration laws. It is my understanding that at the time Obama allegedly acquired Indonesian citizenship that country's law did not recognize dual citizenship. The issue here does not turn on how dual citizenship applies to an ordinary citizen. There is a specific requirement in the U.S. constitution that a president be a "natural born" citizen. There are conflicting views on what this means. In contemporary legal thinking, people often see this as meaning you were born on American soil. Other legal scholars interpret it differently when analyzing it through the meaning intended by the founders of our constitution: “All persons born in the Allegiance of the King are Natural- Born subjects, and all persons born in the Allegiance of the United States are Natural-Born Citizens. Birth and Allegiance go together. Such is the Rule of the Common Law, and it is the Common Law of this Country…since as before the Revolution.” Under this latter view, a person becoming a citizen through naturalization or one who holds dual citizenship could not be a natural born citizen.

Downtown Indy said...

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1753.html'>US Department of State
"...dual nationals owe allegiance to both the United States and the foreign country. They are required to obey the laws of both countries. Either country has the right to enforce its laws, particularly if the person later travels there."

Could make for difficulties. Suppose Indonesia demanded we turn over Obama for some legal process? Or if Indonesia is attacked by another government and said govt involves us because our President is 'one of them.' Or worse, our President then decides to help out 'his country' in war.

Anonymous said...

Oh what a constitutional crisis this would be ... if he were elected only to discover he is not eligible under the US Constitution to serve.

This would be great. We should vote him in then. Anything he did would be null and void. All executive orders, null and void. All bills signed into law, null and void.

Chris Worden said...

AI:

In other words, this whole issue revolves around a technical legal argument?

Is there ANY case that says a person born in the United States has ever lost American citizenship without renouncing it?

And let's assume the adoption somehow gave Obama dual citizenship...am I to understand that your argument is that an American born, democratically-elected (if he wins) Obama should NOT be allowed to serve because he became a dual citizen as a child (through actions he could not control) and he never did something formally to renounce that citizenship? (What would that action have been, by the way?!?)

Yeah, your desperation is palpable, and it might actually destroy all American faith in our electoral system because this might be the second time a Republican-dominated Supreme Court takes away an election. But hey, whatever gets Obama, right?

Gary R. Welsh said...

Again, IPOPA (Chris Worden), you fail to grasp the legal issue. It does not involve the question of whether Obama had and lost U.S. citizenship. It is whether he can be considered a "natural born" citizen only within the meaning of Article II for purposes of being president of the United States. He appears to have held citizenship in no fewer than three different countries. This "natural born" requirement applies only to one seeking to run for president. It has nothing to do with the citizenship status of other persons. As for losing faith in our electoral system, your Democratic Party and its ACORN organization are doing a pretty good job at that. You don't want Voter ID. You want people to be able to show up, claim to be a voter without proper ID, instantly register and cast a vote immediately. The Ohio Secretary of State who refused to verify newly registered voters until ordered by the Court of Appeals is sitting on more than 200,000 problem registrations. Your party is doing everything it can to undermine confidence in the system. I'm simply asking that a candidate for the highest office in the land show the American people proof that he is in fact a "natural born" citizen. The guy won't even produce his original birth certificate for God's sake. What are we to think. I feel like I'm living in another world where people like you can actually believe there is something wrong with requiring candidates for president to prove they meet the constitutional requirement of the office. As I've stated before, as an immigration lawyer, I'm required to submit more documentation to our government to prove a person's status on behalf of a person seeking a simple immigrant benefit than Obama is being required to submit for the most powerful elected position in our government. The guy couldn't even qualify for a national security clearance if he applied for a job requiring such with our government because of his past associations. Yet, we are prepared to turn over the keys to the government to someone who hasn't even proven he meets the basic constitutional requirement.