by Andrew Walden
As Hawai`i Free Press has explained for the last three and a half years, Birtherism is an integral part of President Obama’s reelection effort. Given his disastrous record in office, his only hope is to discredit his opponents as Tin-Foil-Hat nutters—and Obama and Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie both know it.
Birtherism originated within the Hillary Clinton campaign. The two leading Birther lawyers are Hillary Clinton supporter, 9-11 truther, and $1000 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee donor Orly Taitz and Clinton supporter, 9-11 truther, and former Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General Phil Berg.
Even before Abercrombie was elected Governor, this writer demonstrated that birtherism would be on his political agenda. Precisely as predicted, just days after taking office, Abercrombie announced that ‘discrediting’ birtherism would be an early focus of his governorship. It didn’t take a genius to see that Abercrombie was actually hyping birtherism, not squelching it. Even newspaper editors could see it.
Given these facts, it should come as no surprise that the office of Abercrombie’s Attorney General David Louie strung along Arizona’s routine request for ballot eligibility verification for two months in order to foment the current outbreak of birtherism. A chain of emails released by the Democrat-oriented Talking Point Memo demonstrates “How Hawaii Stiffed Arizona Secretary Of State’s Birther Investigation” until Arizona’s ballot-access-related request merged in the news with an Orly Taitz-connected birth certificate investigation by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio to generate what a Google search reveals to be over 300 newspaper articles and television stories.
Arizona’s Attorney General also submitted a parallel request to the State of Michigan for verification of Mitt Romney’s birth information. As he explained to Hawaii Deputy Attorney General Jill Nagamine May 17:
“As the chief elections officer for the State of Arizona and pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes, sections 16-212, 16-301, 16-502, 16-507 and others, my office is tasked with quadrennially compiling a list of candidates for the Office of the President of the United States. This list is then officially ‘certified’ by my office and transmitted to the fifteen counties for creation of the official ballots. The list is generated in the ‘ordinary course’ of my office’s activities (every four years) and it is certainly made for a ‘legitimate government purpose’ (elections).”
After achieving its political goals, Louie’s office Tuesday suddenly provided verification to Arizona. Read the email chain below for a blow-by-blow of how Louie’s office transmogrified a mundane quadrennial ballot status formality into the latest round of Birtherism. It makes one wonder whether Louie’s office is similarly stiffing other states in hope of generating even more outbreaks of Birthiness.
---30---
Related:
EMAILS BETWEEN ARIZONA ATTORNEY GENERAL AND HAWAII ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE
From: Jill T. Nagamine
Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2012 8:15 PM
To: Bennett, Ken
Subject: Link to Hawaii laws and the Department of Health webpage
Hi Ken—
So sorry I’ve taken so long to get back to you. I may take a few more days to get your final response about what we can verify and how we will do so. I have been tied up with some legislative deadlines that take precedence. To start with, here are the links that I mentioned to you.
The first link is to the Department of Health’s website that was created in response to the high volume of inquiries about the President’s birth certificate. It includes the press releases issued by the former Republican-appointed Director of Health.
http://hawaii.gov/health/vital-records/obama.html
The second is to section 338-18, Hawaii Revised Statutes, which governs the confidentiality of vital records. Let me direct you to paragraph (g) which relates to verification of records.
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol06_Ch0321-0344/HRS0338/HRS_0338-0018.htm
Another link is to section 338-14.3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, which pertains to verification.
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol06_Ch0321-0344/HRS0338/HRS_0338-0014_0003.htm
The last link is to all of chapter 338, Hawaii Revised Statutes, Hawaii’s vital statistics law.
http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol06_Ch0321-0344/HRS0338/
Jill T. Nagamine
Deputy Attorney General
State of Hawaii
—
March 30, 2012
Hawaii Department of Health
Office of Health Status Monitoring
Vital Records Issuance Section
P.O. Box 3378
Honolulu, HI 96801
Ladies and gentlemen:
Enclosed please find a request for a verification in lieu of a certified copy for the birth record of Barack Hussein Obama II. In addition to the items to be verified in the attached form, please verify the following items from the record of birth:
Department of Health File #151 61 10641
Time of birth: 7:24 p.m.
Name of hospital: Kapiolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital
Age of father: 25
Birthplace of Father: Kenya, East Africa
Age of mother: 18
Birthplace of mother: Wichita, Kansas
Date of signature of parent: 8-7-1961
Date of signature of attendant: 8-8-1961
Date accepted by local registrar: August-8 1961
Additionally, please verify that the attached copy of the Certificate of Live Birth for Mr. Obama is a true and accurate representation of the original record in your files.
Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
Sincerely,
Ken Bennett
Arizona Secretary of State
—
From: Bennett, Ken
To: Jill T. Nagamine
Date: 04/16/2012 01:48 PM
Subject: RE: Link to Hawaii laws and the Department of Health webpage
Dear Jill,
Thank you for speaking with me several weeks ago and providing the helpful links below. I sent a request for a verification in lieu of a certified copy of President Obama’s birth record to the Dept. of Health on March 30th. I was just wondering if you knew whether the request was received and how long it usually takes to process? Thanx.
Ken Bennett
Arizona Secretary of State
—
From: Jill T. Nagamine
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 5:39 PM
To: Bennett, Ken
Subject: RE: Link to Hawaii laws and the Department of Health webpage
Ken—
Thank you for this heads up. This is the first I heard of it. I will check with my client to see if they received your request.
Jill
Jill T. Nagamine
Deputy Attorney General
State of Hawaii
—
To: Jill T. Nagamine
From: Drake, Jim
Date: 05/01/2012 11:52AM
Subject: Request from the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office
Hello Jill. I just left you a brief voice mail message. I am wondering whether you can give me a ballpark timeframe on our request. As you know, the closer we get to November, the more my phone rings. I believe that having Hawaii’s response on hand might help to quell the inquiries! Thanks in advance. Jim
Jim Drake
Deputy Secretary of State
—
From: Jill T. Nagamine
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2012 5:11 PM
To: Drake, Jim; Bennett, Ken
Subject: Re: Request from the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office
Dear Mr. Bennett and Mr. Drake—
My apologies for not responding immediately. I have recently been away from my office a great deal, including today. My client, the Department of Health, has forwarded your request for verification of President Obama’s birth record to me. We need more information to substantiate that you are eligible to receive verification. Hawaii Revised Statutes, section 338-18(g), provides:
(g) The department shall not issue a verification in lieu of a certified copy of any such record, or any part thereof, unless it is satisfied that the applicant requesting a verification is:
(1) A person who has a direct and tangible interest in the record but requests a verification in lieu of a certified copy;
(2) A governmental agency or organization who for a legitimate government purpose maintains and needs to update official lists of persons in the ordinary course of the agency’s or organization’s activities;
(3) A governmental, private, social, or educational agency or organization who seeks confirmation of a certified copy of any such record submitted in support of or information provided about a vital event relating to any such record and contained in an official application made in the ordinary course of the agency’s or organization’s activities by an individual seeking employment with, entrance to, or the services or products of the agency or organization;
(4) A private or government attorney who seeks to confirm information about a vital event relating to any such record which was acquired during the course of or for purposes of legal proceedings; or
(5) An individual employed, endorsed, or sponsored by a governmental, private, social, or educational agency or organization who seeks to confirm information about a vital event relating to any such record in preparation of reports or publications by the agency or organization for research or educational purposes.
As the Secretary and I initially discussed, it appears that you might be eligible for verification of the record based on subparagraph (2), but we need to see what your authority is “to update official lists of persons in the ordinary course of your activities.” Will you send me a copy of your law that allows this, and will you send me information that shows:
(1) What list are you updating?
(2) Is it your normal procedure to update all entries on your list by requiring birth data verification?
(3) Are you requiring birth data verification of all entries on your list, rather than just targeting one name on your list? (please provide evidence that you are doing so)
You may address your response directly to me, and I will relay it to my client.
Thank you,
Jill T. Nagamine
Deputy Attorney General
State of Hawaii
—
From: Bennett, Ken
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2012 3:12 PM
To: Jill T. Nagamine; Drake, Jim
Subject: RE: Request from the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office
Dear Ms. Nagamine:
As the chief elections officer for the State of Arizona and pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes, sections 16-212, 16-301, 16-502, 16-507 and others, my office is tasked with quadrennially compiling a list of candidates for the Office of the President of the United States. This list is then officially “certified” by my office and transmitted to the fifteen counties for creation of the official ballots. The list is generated in the “ordinary course” of my office’s activities (every four years) and it is certainly made for a “legitimate government purpose” (elections).
Based on the above representation, I believe that my office has strictly and expressly complied with all of the elements found in Hawaii Revised Statutes, section 338-18(g).
I understand your client’s initial trepidation in responding to this request given the significant amount of email, fax and phone call traffic that this issue has spawned. My office too has received numerous constituent requests and I agree with Director Fuddy’s assertion in her letter of April 25, 2011 that the sheer volume of inquires has “been disruptive to staff operations and have strained State resources.” However, I am concerned that a rejection of a request by another State’s chief elections official will dramatically exacerbate an already untenable situation.
Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Ken Bennett
Secretary of State
—
From: Jill T. Nagamine
Sent: Saturday, May 19, 2012 3:38 PM
To: Bennett, Ken
Subject: RE: Request from the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office
Dear Mr. Bennett:
I am in receipt of your email dated May 17, 2012. As I have informed you and Mr. Drake, Hawaii law requires that for verification of a vital record the requestor must satisfy the requirements of section 338-18(g), Hawaii Revised Statutes, which provides:
(g) The department shall not issue a verification in lieu of a certified copy of any such record, or any part thereof, unless it is satisfied that the applicant requesting a verification is:
(1) A person who has a direct and tangible interest in the record but requests a verification in lieu of a certified copy;
(2) A governmental agency or organization who for a legitimate government purpose maintains and needs to update official lists of persons in the ordinary course of the agency’s or organization’s activities;
(3) A governmental, private, social, or educational agency or organization who seeks confirmation of a certified copy of any such record submitted in support of or information provided about a vital event relating to any such record and contained in an official application made in the ordinary course of the agency’s or organization’s activities by an individual seeking employment with, entrance to, or the services or products of the agency or organization;
(4) A private or government attorney who seeks to confirm information about a vital event relating to any such record which was acquired during the course of or for purposes of legal proceedings; or
(5) An individual employed, endorsed, or sponsored by a governmental, private, social, or educational agency or organization who seeks to confirm information about a vital event relating to any such record in preparation of reports or publications by the agency or organization for research or educational purposes.
I asked you for legal authority that establishes your right to obtain verification, and your email of May 17, 2012 provides me with references to Arizona Revised Statutes 16-212, 16-301, 16-502, 16-507, and unnamed others. These statutes seem to deal with election of presidential electors, nomination of candidates for printing on official ballot of general or special election, form and contents of ballot, and presentation of presidential candidates on ballot, but none, as far as I can tell, establish the authority of the Secretary of State to maintain and update official lists of persons in the ordinary course of his activities. I researched other sections of the Arizona Revised Statutes and was unable to find the necessary authority.
If I have missed something, please let me know. My client stands willing to provide you with the verification you seek as soon as you are able to show that you are entitled to it.
Thank you,
Jill T. Nagamine
Deputy Attorney General
State of Hawaii