A lawsuit that accuses Congress of failing
to investigate President Obama's birthplace before approving the Electoral
College vote giving him the presidency has been amended to include additional
claims of rights violations, including unequal treatment, because Congress did
such an investigation into GOP candidate Sen. John McCain.
That word comes from Mario Apuzzo, the
lawyer handling the case on which WND previously has
reported.
The case raises many of the same arguments as dozens of
other cases that have flooded into courtrooms around the nation since the
November election.
The case was brought by Apuzzo on behalf
of Charles F. Kerchner Jr., Lowell T. Patterson, Darrell James Lenormand and
Donald H. Nelson Jr. It names as defendants Barack Hussein Obama II, the U.S.,
Congress, the Senate, House of Representatives and former Vice President Dick
Cheney along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Apuzzo told WND that Congress last year
raised the issue of whether McCain was a "natural born" citizen, a requirement
set out in the U.S. Constitution for the president, because of his birth to U.S.
citizens in the Panama
Canal Zone.
Where's the proof Barack Obama was born in the U.S. or that
he fulfills the "natural-born American" clause in the Constitution? If you still
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According to a report in the Washington
Post, the Senate unanimously declared McCain to be a "natural born" citizen,
meeting the demand of Article 2 of the Constitution, which states, "no person
except a natural born citizen … shall be eligible to the office of president."
The report, however, pointed out that such
a statement was opinion only, and the constitutional question actually isn't so
simple. It quoted Catholic University associate law professor Sarah Duggin
saying the document is ambiguous.
"Ultimately there has never been any real
resolution of this issue. Congress cannot legislatively change the meaning of
the Constitution," she told the newspaper, saying a constitutional amendment or
a U.S. Supreme Court ruling would be the way to reach a determination.
However, even though his clients wrote to
Congress requesting a similar review of Obama's birthplace, they were refused.
"The question is: Why do you do it for
McCain, but not Obama," Apuzzo told WND.
More specifically, those who doubted
McCain's eligibility had an opportunity for a review but not those who doubt
Obama.
That violates a liberty right for his
clients, he said, because as members of a republic, they have a right to know
that their president is legitimate.
"What I'm arguing is that Congress and
President Obama have violated my clients' due process under Article 5 [of the
U.S. Constitution]," Apuzzo said.
Already; Congress held a responsibility to
make certain Obama is qualified for the post, he alleges. And the public outcry,
evidenced by the dozens of lawsuits over the issue, should have prompted due
diligence on the part of members of Congress, he said.
Obama, meanwhile, has refused to hand over
"sufficient documents" to verify his "natural born" status, Apuzzo said.
"We're not a monarchy," Apuzzo said,
"People have a right to know."
He said his case in U.S. District Court in
New Jersey is at the point where the court notices about the case are
being distributed.
He said the fact Obama already has been
inaugurated changes nothing in his case.
"Before that, everything really was
premature," he said. "He has a right to run for office. But when you down to the
nitty gritty, he still has to qualify for the position."
He said the Constitution specifically
raises the scenario of a president who has been chosen for office but has failed
to qualify.
"Even though you ran, everybody loves you,
you still have got to qualify under the Constitution," Apuzzo said.
Further, the lawsuit explains, not only
are there legitimate questions about Obama's birth, and therefore eligibility,
he might not even be a U.S. citizen at all.
"There exists a possibility that Obama
could be an illegal alien," the lawsuit said. "Obama has yet to adequately prove
that he was born in the United States. [Further], Obama has publicly conceded
that his father was born in Kenya and a British subject/citizen at the time of Obama's birth
which precluded Obama from gaining any U.S. citizenship from his father."
The lawsuits over Obama's eligibility, in
various ways, have alleged Obama does not meet the "natural born citizen" clause
of the U.S. Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, which reads, "No Person except a
natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the
Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of
President."
Some of the legal challenges have alleged
Obama was not born in Hawaii, as he insists, but in Kenya. Obama's American
mother, the suits contend, was too young at the time of his birth to confer
American citizenship to her son under the law at the time.
Other challenges have focused on Obama's
citizenship through his father, a Kenyan subject to the jurisdiction of the
United
Kingdom at the time of his birth, thus making him a dual citizen.
The cases contend the framers of the Constitution excluded dual citizens from
qualifying as natural born.
Several details of Obama's past have added
twists to the question of his eligibility and citizenship, including his
family's move to Indonesia when he was a child and on what nation's passport he
traveled to Pakistan in the '80s, as well as conflicting reports from Obama's
family about his place of birth.
Apuzzo told WND the biggest reason to
investigate further is the fact that Obama has refused to allow public release
of a signed "vault" copy of his original birth certificate.
Several of the legal cases – including
those brought by Orly Taitz, Cort Wrotnowski, Leo Donofrio and Philip Berg,
already have been discussed in conference at the U.S. Supreme Court, which has
failed to have a hearing on any of the merits involved.
Taitz, in fact, is requesting information
from the Supreme Court about a meeting eight of its justices held with Obama, a
defendant in her case, before the justices reviewed the issues of the case in a
private conference.
Several of the cases still remain active
at lower court levels, from which emergency requests to the high court were
launched.
"I know that Mr. Obama is not a
constitutionally qualified natural born citizen and is ineligible to assume the
office of president of the United States," Berg said in a statement on his
ObamaCrimes.com website.
"Obama knows he is not 'natural born' as
he knows where he was born and he knows he was adopted in Indonesia; Obama is an
attorney, Harvard Law grad who taught Constitutional law; Obama knows his
candidacy is the largest 'hoax' attempted on the citizens of the United States
in over 200 years; Obama places our Constitution in a 'crisis' situation; and
Obama is in a situation where he can be blackmailed by leaders around the world
who know Obama is not qualified," Berg's statement continued.
While Obama's campaign team called the
cases garbage, here is a partial listing and status update for several of the
cases:
- Philip J. Berg, a Pennsylvania Democrat,
demanded that the courts verify Obama's original birth certificate and other
documents proving his American citizenship. Berg's latest appeal, requesting an
injunction to stop the Electoral College from selecting the 44th president, was
denied.
- Leo Donofrio of New Jersey filed a
lawsuit claiming Obama's dual citizenship disqualified him from serving as
president. His case was considered in conference by the U.S. Supreme Court
but denied a full hearing.
- Cort Wrotnowski filed suit against
Connecticut's secretary of state, making a similar argument to Donofrio.
His case was considered in
conference by the U.S.
Supreme Court, but was denied a full hearing.
- Former presidential candidate Alan Keyes
headlines a list of people filing a suit in California, in a case handled
by the United States Justice Foundation, that asks the secretary of state to refuse to allow the
state's 55 Electoral College votes to be cast in the 2008 presidential election
until Obama verifies his eligibility to hold the office. The case is pending,
and lawyers are seeking the public's
support.
- Chicago
attorney Andy Martin sought legal action requiring Hawaii Gov.
Linda Lingle to release Obama's vital statistics record. The case was dismissed
by Hawaii Circuit Court Judge Bert Ayabe.
- Lt. Col. Donald Sullivan sought a
temporary restraining order to stop the Electoral College vote in North Carolina
until Barack Obama's eligibility could be confirmed, alleging doubt about
Obama's citizenship. His case was denied.
- In Ohio, David M. Neal sued to force the
secretary of state to request documents from the Federal Elections Commission,
the Democratic National Committee, the Ohio Democratic Party and Obama to show the presidential candidate was born in
Hawaii. The case was denied.
- In Washington state, Steven Marquis sued
the secretary of state seeking a determination on Obama's citizenship. The case
was denied.
- In Georgia, Rev. Tom Terry asked the
state Supreme Court to authenticate Obama's birth certificate. His request for
an injunction against Georgia's secretary of state was denied by Georgia
Superior Court Judge Jerry W. Baxter.
- California attorney Orly Taitz has
brought a case, Lightfoot vs. Bowen, on behalf of Gail Lightfoot, the vice
presidential candidate on the ballot with Ron Paul, four electors and two
registered voters.
In addition, other cases cited on the RightSideofLife
blog as raising questions
about Obama's eligibility include:
- In Texas, Darrel Hunter vs. Obama later
was dismissed.
- In Ohio, Gordon Stamper vs. U.S. later
was dismissed.
- In Texas, Brockhausen vs.
Andrade.
- In Washington, L. Charles vs.
Obama.
- In Hawaii, Keyes vs. Lingle,
dismissed.
WND senior reporter Jerome Corsi had gone to both Kenya and
Hawaii prior to the election to investigate issues surrounding Obama's
birth. But his research
and discoveries only raised more questions.
The governor's office in Hawaii said there
is a valid certificate but rejected requests for access and left ambiguous its
origin: Does the certificate on file with the Department of Health indicate a
Hawaii birth or was it generated after the Obama family registered a Kenyan
birth in Hawaii?
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