Obama citizenship questions continue Reported by: Jamie Holmes
Email: jholmes@wptv.com
Photographer: Cody Jackson
Last Update: 10:08 pm
WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- It's been Internet gossip for months. Is Barack Obama a U.S. citizen?
"I think it's conspiracy theories run amuck," says WPTV political analyst Dr. Robert Watson. "The next thing we're going to hear is Barack Obama was at Roswell."
Nonetheless an attorney in Philadelphia, Philip Berg, filed a lawsuit claiming Obama lost his U.S. citizenship when his mother married an Indonesian man. Berg says Obama failed to take an oath of allegiance when he turned 18.
Obama has attempted to silence any critics by producing a birth certificate from Hawaii, proving he was born there in 1961. Berg however is demanding an original, and not a copy from the Obama camp.
Obama's team filed a motion to dismiss Berg's lawsuit, but they also made a motion to block discovery.
Brian Smith is a West Palm Beach attorney registered as an Independent, that has wrote about this issue from a legal standpoint on his blog.
"The Obama camp and Democratic National Committee responded to the lawsuit by filing a motion to dismiss, but they never responded to the request for admissions."
Berg is now arguing because Obama's camp is refusing to produce an original birth certificate copy in discovery, his allegations are essentially true.
"Wednesday he filed a motion for summary judgment, or a judgment in his favor, as a matter of law, because they essentially admitted those allegations. That from a legal perspective is huge," says Smith.
This is the third lawsuit that's been filed about Obama's citizenship, meaning the courts will have to decide how to move forward. A Washington man, Steven Marquis, is suing the Washington Secretary of State, demanding that he verify Obama's citizenship status before the election.
In Honolulu, Andy Martin filed a lawsuit on October 17th, to get the Hawaiin Department of Health to release Obama's birth certificates. Martin also wants to see an original birth certificate, and not a 'copy.'
Smith says under Hawaii law birth certificates are considered private.
Meanwhile, Judge R. Barclay Surrick is hearing Berg's case in Pennsylvania. The suit was filed on August 21st, but the judge has not made any ruling.
What is certain is that this issue doesn't seem to be going away.
On-line it has a rabid and contentious following from both sides.
Even in the real world, Dr. Watson tells us whenever he speaks publicly, the issue always pops up.
"At this point I think Obama should answer the question. In politics, perception is reality and as long as these e-mails are running wild with conspiracy theories, I think he needs to address it," says Watson.
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