Breaking: Live Cold Case Posse Press Conference Report

“BIRTH CERTIFICATE AND SUBSEQUENT ELIGIBILITY” TO BE DISCUSSED

by Sharon Rondeau

(Mar. 1, 2012) — Live feed was provided by the Western Center for Journalism.  A spokeswoman initially said that Sheriff Joe Arpaio was to speak, then Mike Zullo, lead investigator from the Cold Case Posse.  Dr. Jerome Corsi was to “detail his involvement in the investigation.”

“Also present with us today…is Mara Zebest, a computer specialist and Denise O’Rourke, an attorney, who assisted in the investigation,” the spokeswoman said.  She then said that Carl Seale, a State Representative from District 6, was also in attendance.

Sheriff Joe approached the lectern and spoke for about minutes.  The live feed was constantly interrupted, making the sound very difficult to distinguish.  The Post & Email believes that Arpaio stated that the long-form birth certificate released by the White House “did not originate from a paper copy.”

Mike Zullo, investigator, then used a projector screen to show what the image should have looked like had it originated from a paper copy.  Zullo stated that during the investigation, they “laid” an original on top of the image.  Zullo explained OCR (optical character recognition) software via a video with a voice-over from an expert, which then went on to analyze the long-form image.

The voice-over stated that items could be “moved around” on the image, which it said would not be the case if it were from an original document.  Zullo spoke again about “nine links and layers” which indicate that the document was “built.”  If OCR were responsible for the anomalies, Zullo said that there would be about 145 “bits and pieces.”  Zullo said that the “green safety paper” was “put on last,” although it should have been first.

A voice-over on a second video stated that the MCSO “created its own” image “in an attempt to explain the document’s many problems.”  The voice said that OCR had not been applied to the long-form birth certificate.  “Optimization produces layers very different from the layers in the long-form birth certificate” of Obama, the voice said.

Obama was in Nashua, New Hampshire visiting a community college this morning and was reportedly traveling during the press conference.

WorldNetDaily issued a press release at approximately 3:19 p.m. ET, which stated, in part:

The videos illustrate point-by-point the investigators’ conclusion that the features and anomalies observed on the Obama long-form birth certificate were inconsistent with features produced when a paper document is scanned, even if the scan of the paper document had been enhanced by Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and optimized.

As of this writing the White House maintained the long-form image purported to be Obama’s birth certificate.

Zullo stated that “it was not just a bunch of ex-cops…running these tests” on the document.  “This is serious,” he said.  He added that the “register [sic] and date stamp” were brought to Arpaio’s attention immediately.

Zullo then said that they examined passenger manifests from 1961 to inquire as to whether or not Obama was born outside of the country.  He stated that the manifests were not available, but that Dr. Jerome Corsi examined records in Hawaii but that records “disappeared” from the microfilms held in the Health Department archives.  Zullo stated that “no explanation” has been provided.

Zullo then discussed Obama’s Selective Service card and then played a video.  The Post & Email had conducted its own inquiry of the registration with the Selective Service office.  The voice in the video stated that the numbers “08” were “cut away, indicating that a “clear pattern” about Obama’s documentation was emerging.

Zullo explained that the date stamper used in 1980 on Selective Service registrations is no longer available, but that he himself “replicated what was on Mr. Obama’s Selective Service card.”

“We would like to see the documentation that Hawaii has, and we would like cooperation,” Zullo said.  “A fraud has been committed in Maricopa County and the state of Arizona.  The document is fake.”

Dr. Corsi was about to speak, but then Zullo said that they had identified a person of interest in the forgery of the birth certificate whom he said they could not name at this time.

Corsi gave a tribute to Andrew Breitbart, who died unexpectedly this morning and stated that Arpaio was to have an interview with Breitbart.  He explained his role in the investigation carried out by Arpaio’s office, speaking for about seven minutes.

State Rep. Carl Seale then spoke, stating that the information provided “was very troubling.”  Seale had introduced a bill in Arizona dealing with presidential eligibility and stated that another is pending in the legislature.  He invited the public to contact his office since he was in a hurry to return to the legislature.  He ended with “God bless America.”

Arpaio then took the lectern again and addressed remarks to the media.  “If these documents are forged, and we believe…that there is enough probable cause to say that they are, then a crime has been committed.”  He then said that he was not accusing Obama of “any crime.”  “The challenge is where to take these findings,” he said, and stated that he had been a federal agent at one time.  “I’m considering asking the Hawaii authorities to look into it, but my investigators feel, ‘Will they really do it?'” he said.

Arpaio mentioned some possibilities about “where to go” with the findings, including a bipartisan congressional investigation.  “The president’s name is out there; his birth certificate is out there.  I want to find out if there’s any forgery or fraud…If nothing else comes out of this investigation today…what we have learned…is that we need a better process to vet people running for President of the United States of America.”

He stated that they have sworn affidavits from “many, many people” and would continue the investigation.  Zullo then stepped up and said that there were “numerous sworn affidavits” of “vetted” people willing to come forward about what they know.  “There are too many things in the background that we cannot clear,” Zullo said.  “There’s just too much missing information…This is not where we wanted to go, but this is where it’s taking us…”

A member of the media stated that Arpaio had accused Obama of a crime, but Arpaio disagreed.  “I’m saying we have documents that seem to be forged.  That’s a crime,” Arpaio answered.  “I didn’t say that.”

An angry male member of the media then asked Arpaio some questions.  Arpaio answered that he was not stating that Obama should not be president.

“I’m a law enforcement guy…I’m not accusing anyone of anything…I think we made a pretty good case here,” he said.

Zullo spoke again, mentioning that Donald Trump had questioned the authenticity of Obama’s birth certificate.  “You fraud one person in Maricopa County with that, you fraud every person in the county with that…He (Arpaio) wants a congressional investigation.”

Arpaio then spoke again and said, “I want the truth; I don’t care where it goes…If we could prove that the birth certificate was real, I’d be very happy here…I don’t need this for politics.”

Another male member of the audience insisted that Zullo and Arpaio were accusing Obama of a crime.  Zullo answered, “After what you’ve seen here, you have to conclude that the document is a forgery.”  Zullo also said that they have identified the computer on which the document was manufactured and the approximate upload time.  “We would like to find the individuals who did it,” Zullo said.

“This was not on my radar screen,” Zullo continued.  He said he “wanted to validate” the birth certificate.

Arpaio then spoke about the audience wanting to know his “motivation.”  “In my hear, I’m an elected sheriff.  When 250 people come up to me…I’m not going to throw it in the wastebasket and forget about it,” he said.  Arpaio reiterated that the Cold Case Posse’s investigation did not cost taxpayers any money.  “I think this is a really important investigation,” Arpaio said, which was followed by applause.

The media members continued to ask Arpaio about the Department of Justice lawsuit against Arpaio’s office for alleged racial discrimination, and Arpaio said, “That’s another matter.”

Another media person insisted that Arpaio is “accusing the president.”

Arpaio said he would “have to make a decision…” as to how to proceed with the investigation.

Another reporter asked “What about ‘Occidental, Columbia and Harvard University?'” and whether or not those schools were obligated to release any information they might have on Obama.

Arpaio said “We don’t want this to continue…I’d like to think we’re doing something about this problem once and for all.”  Arpaio formally called for a “criminal investigation” based on the Cold Case Posse’s findings.

“What else would you like to see?” one reporter asked.  Overall, the media was inarguably hostile to Arpaio and his team’s findings.

The press conference ended at approximately 4:20 p.m. ET, at which time some reporters appeared to ask questions of members of the Cold Case Posse.  At 4:25 p.m., the live feed ended.

An Arizona editorialist posed the question of Arpaio “staging” a press conference and “no one showed up.”  The writer argued that Obama is a “citizen,” but that was not the subject of Arpaio’s investigation.

At 4:22 p.m. ET, CBS issued a report entitled “Arpaio: Obama’s birth certificate not authentic.”  While the report was fair, the last paragraph editorialized, “Rather than seek cover, Arpaio is moving into the spotlight in a fashion that has helped boost his career as a nationally-known law officer.”

An AP report issued before the press conference used the same phrase “Rather than seek cover” and the word “spotlight” and described Arpaio as “entangled these days in his own thorny legal troubles: a federal grand jury probe over alleged abuse of power, Justice Department accusations of racial profiling and revelations that his department didn’t adequately investigate hundreds of Arizona sex-crime cases.”

An article published from The Atlantic Wire following the conference masquerading as news began, “Doing his best to shift attention from the Federal investigations into his office’s discrimination against Latinos and abuses of power, Arizona’s notorious sheriff Joe Arpaio is resorting to a well-worn headline-grabber: birtherism.”

AP reports elsewhere insist that the “controversy” over Obama’s birth certificate “has been widely debunked,” which was not supported by the Cold Case Posse’s findings.  The Washington Times stated that questions about Obama’s documentation have been a “political sideshow,” which is not objective reporting.  Questions were attributed to “conservative activists and conspiracy-theory websites.”

Reuters issued a report with the analysis of the birth certificate image displayed as the Cold Case Posse explained its findings.

What is it about the word “forgery” that the media do not understand?

A television report from Channel 5 in Phoenix, AZ presented the issue in a serious journalistic manner, giving both sides of the issue.