HI Dept. of Health refuses to corroborate that Obama born in Hawaii

DESPITE NUMEROUS INQUIRIES FROM CITIZENS AND THE PRESS

by John Charlton

(Feb. 19, 2010) —  The Post & Email has received documentation establishing without a doubt that the Hawaii Department of Health categorically refuses to corroborate the July 28, 2009 statement of Dr. Chiyome L. Fukino that Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaii and is a “natural-born American citizen.”

Since Fukino’s statement has become the fundamental claim to eligibility of Barack Hussein Obama, the failure of her Department to corroborate it in any way establishes that claim as false, by common sense.  For honest folk, speaking sincerely, do not conceal corroborating evidence.  Nor is there a reason to hide Obama’s vital records unless they prove he is not eligible.

Since the public statement was made, numerous citizens have attempted to understand and verify the claim made by Dr. Fukino in her capacity as Director of the Department of Health for the state of Hawaii.  On each occasion the Department has officially refused to show any documentary evidence whatsoever to corroborate Fukino’s press release.

After six months of denials, therefore, it can safely be said that there is no evidence forthcoming that Obama was born in Hawaii or is a “natural-born American Citizen.”

The Post & Email makes this determination on the basis of the known facts, to wit:

1) The Department of Health denies having any written documents, whether printed or electronic, which bear testimony to the preparation of the Fukino statement;

2) The Department of Health denies having made or created any records after the statement was made which corroborate in any manner or document the process in which the statement was made.

3) The Hawaii Attorney General’s Office has officially refused to affirm or deny that Dr. Fukino had any statutory authority to make such a declaration;

4) Miss Janice S. Okubo, Director of Communications for the Department, having claimed that Dr. Fukino sought advice from the Hawaii Attorney General in preparation of the statement, refuses to disclose any documentation to prove such a claim;

5) Jill T. Nagamine, Deputy Attorney General for the State of Hawaii Attorney, says that her office contains no documentation to prove such a consultation took place between Dr. Fukino and Mark Bennett, the State Attorney General;

6) Nagamine also refuses to confirm that such a conversation took place;

7) Okubo denies that her Department has any phone records, letters, faxes, or other documents establishing that such counsel was sought (claim made to me in response to my UIPA request of Sept. 27, 2009, sent to me Dec. 28, 2009).

8) Dr. Fukino’s official daily schedules for July 2009 show that she never met with the State Attorney General, nor held a meeting to discuss the formulation of her press release, and that she never visited the Office of Vital Statistics to look at Obama’s alleged vital records.

The Chronology of the Fukino Statement

The Post & Email is now in possession of key documents which enable the reconstruction of the precise sequence and timing of events which led up to and followed the Fukino statement of July 28, 2009.  These documents include copies of Miss Tickly’s correspondence with Janice Okubo and copies of Dr. Fukino’s daily schedules for July 2009.  Each set of documents was released to The Post & Email by its respective author.  Dr. Fukino’s calendar indicates that it was printed out for The Post & Email on Jan. 20, 2010, at 9:39 AM, from an electronic file.

PRIOR WEEK

Fukino’s official calendar shows that, in the week preceding, she attended the NGA Center Workshop on Public Health Security in Minneapolis, Minnesota, from Monday July, 20, 2009 , to Thursday, July, 23, 2009.

From Friday, July 24, to Sunday July 26, Dr. Fukino’s calendar has no appointments.

Fukino’s calendar for Monday, July 27-31 shows that she never met  formally with the Hawaii Attorney General, nor did she visit the Office of Vital Statistics, which holds the records of birth.

MONDAY, JULY 27, 2009

Miss Tickly’s correspondence on that fateful day adds to the notion that Dr. Fukino did not see any documents, but merely claimed off-the-cuff that she did:

In her first letter, Miss Tickly wrote:

Date: July 27, 2009 7:20:20 AM EDT
To: janice.okubo@doh.hawaii.gov
Subject: Your help is appreciated.

Dear Ms. Okubo,

Can the State of Hawaii verify that they have the Amended (Original) birth record for President Barack Obama on file in accordance with state policies, whether digital, paper or otherwise?

Thank you and I apologize for your trouble in asking–I can’t imagine how this issue must be overwhelming you. You have been extremely patient and professional from what I can discern. But, I feel the best thing for me, is just to ask you guys myself.

Thank you again,

In response, Janice Okubo sent a copy of the October press release and ignored her question.  So in response, Miss Tickly wrote a second letter:

Sent: Monday, July 27, 2009 3:00 PM
To: Okubo, Janice S.
Subject: Re: Your help is appreciated.

Ms. Okubo,

Aloha! Thank you so much for replying quickly. And, thank you for the ‘infamous’ press release–it is a document I refer to every so often and having my very own is much appreciated. I’ll consider this document my brush with fame AND infamy! Frankly, I wonder what you must think of the ‘Birther’ inquiries and would like to state upfront, that I completely respect Hawaii’s Privacy laws. I ask that you answer the following, if privacy laws allow:

“Is the Director of Health for the State of Hawai’i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, able to state they have verified that the Hawai’i State Department of Health has President Barack Obama’s AMENDED original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.”

I fear my carefully chosen wording appears like an effort to ‘pull a fast one’–however, I modeled it on the following statement you were able to make publicly on your press release last year:

“Therefore, I as Director of Health for the State of Hawai’i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawai’i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.”

I hope this is reasonable to ask. If not, can you point me to the applicable statute?

Many thanks for your attention to this matter.

At 4:45:54 PM, Hawaii Time, Miss Okubo responded by sending an electronic copy of the Fukino press release, which would not be publicly reported for another six hours:

Date: July 27, 2009 11:45:54 PM EDT
Subject: RE: Your help is appreciated.

Attached is the statement issued today by the Hawaii State Director of Health. The director has never used the term “AMMENDED” in any of her issued statements regarding this issue.

What is curious about this press release is that Fukino’s schedule shows nothing that would directly indicate she spent time preparing it herself.  In fact, Okubo sends out the release while Dr. Fukino is meeting with officials of the Center for Disease Control.  Furthermore, even though Dr. Fukino’s schedule mentions her meetings with Miss Okubo for the preparation of other press releases, no such meeting is indicated anywhere for this press release.  One can wonder rightly if Dr. Fukino even made the press release or whether Miss Okubo did so in her name.  Miss Okubo, however, has gone on record elsewhere in admitting she never saw Obama’s vital records at any time whatsoever.

There was a cabinet meeting, evidently called by Governor Lingle from 10:00 AM to noon that day which Dr. Fukino attended as Director of the Department of Health.  Did Governor Lingle suggest to her the public statement or give it to her to sign and issue as her own?  Perhaps it was at the cabinet meeting that she met and spoke with the Hawaii Attorney General?

TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2009

In response to the public statement made in the press just hours later, Miss Tickly, realizing that she had received the same press release (though an earlier version of it, containing a supplementary, blank page), wrote Miss Okubo a third letter in the afternoon of July 28, in the first recorded attempt by anyone to understand what the statement was trying to say:

Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 12:06 PM
To: Okubo, Janice S.
Subject: One more question.

““I, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, Director of the Hawai‛i State Department of Health, have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawaiʻi State Department of Health verifying Barack Hussein Obama was born in Hawaiʻi and is a natural-born American citizen. I have nothing further to add to this statement or my original statement issued in October 2008 over eight months ago.”

###

When you state ‘vital records’ in this context, what does that include?

To this, Okubo responded, on Jul 28, 2009, at 6:32 PM:

Vital records are records of life events kept under governmental authority, including birth certificates, marriage licenses, and death certificates. In some jurisdictions, vital records may also include records of civil unions or domestic partnerships.

In the United States, vital records are typically maintained at the state level. [1]

Janice Okubo
Communications Office

This reply is significant: for just hours after the public statement was published in the press, Okubo was not claiming that the use of the plural term “vital records” included variations of a birth filing.  But whereas Obama is not known to have married or died or contracted a civil union, it remains inexplicable why Okubo gave such a response.

Miss Tickly, realizing that she had Janice Okubo’s ear, asked for further information in a second letter that same day, before receiving Okubo’s response regarding what vital records are:

Date: July 28, 2009 2:49:42 PM EDT
To: “Janice S. Okubo” <janice.okubo@doh.hawaii.gov>
Subject: Questions?

Ms. Okubo-

ALOHA! Me, again. I could never have imagined that the one day I bother to email you and ask a question, I would get an answer and swiftly I might add, like the one I got. That’s not how other people described you, exactly=)

I have done some thinking about Statutory Authority as it pertains Vital Records in Hawaii and how they pertain to the question I posed, yesterday. I feel pretty certain, that yesterday afternoon, I asked you a question that the Director of Health for the State of Hawai’i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics have the statutory authority to answer. Am I right?

And can you help me with the following, too:

Is it true that an Amended and Original Birth Record are identical in the statutory/legal sense?

Are the Director of Health for the State of Hawai’i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics compelled to answer my question(s) if they the have statutory authority to do so? Can you expound?

I borrowed wording from your fall press release when I asked you the following question in order to maintain the integrity of YOUR meaning. This is what I asked:

“Is the Director of Health for the State of Hawai’i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, able to state they have verified that the Hawai’i State Department of Health has President Barack Obama’s AMENDED original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures?”

This is your statement from the October 08 Press Release:

“Therefore, I as Director of Health for the State of Hawaiʻi, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawaiʻi State Department of Health has Sen. Obamaʼs original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures. “

If Original Birth records and Ammended/Amended Original Birth records are legal/statutory equals, am I within statute asking the following question?

“Is the Director of Health for the State of Hawai’i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, able to state they have verified that the Hawai’i State Department of Health has President Barack Obama’s AMENDED original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures?”

I see it so clearly now, it’s really so simple, you’ve given us EVERY clue on how to frame a question. Is there anyway, though, that I can get an answer to the question I asked?

Thank you as always for being so GREAT at what you do.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 2009

This letter received no response, so Miss Tickly sent another, early the next day:

Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 5:51 AM
To: Okubo, Janice S.
Subject: Re: One more question.

Ms. Okubo–

I didn’t see amended birth certificates detailed in the definition of ‘vital records’ you sent me.
so when I asked you:

“Is the Director of Health for the State of Hawai’i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, able to state they have verified that the Hawai’i State Department of Health has President Barack Obama’s AMENDED original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures?”

What is the answer?

Thanks!

To this letter Okubo responded, more than 7 hours later:

Date: July 29, 2009 2:26:54 PM EDT
Subject: RE: One more question.

The director has never used the word “AMMENDED” in her statements. The director has nothing further to add to her statements.

Janice Okubo
Communications Office

And from this point onward, Okubo has denied to corroborate in any manner the factual basis or meaning of the Fukino statement, evidently because Miss Tickly had seen through the internal inconsistencies of Fukino’s claims, or because of the question put to Okubo the same day by another citizen.

Justin Riggs gets Okubo to claim that Fukino consulted with HI Attorney General

The only other known correspondence about the public statement came from Justin Riggs, a copy of which was published on the blog of Attorney Leo Donofrio, in August 2009:

From: Justin Riggs [email address redacted]
Date: Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 12:03 PM

…Ms. Okubo,

I am currently a masters degree candidate at …

The reason that I am contacting your organizations is that you are, as far as I can tell from my research, the only two groups that have openly stated that President Obama is a natural born citizen (one of the Article II, Section I qualifications for being President). I would like to document how you came to that conclusion: i.e. what the criteria is for your organization, what evidence the candidate provides, etc.

I thank you for your time, and look forward to receiving a response in the near future.

Sincerely,
Justin W. Riggs

Janice Okubo responded later that day:

Date: Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 12:20 PM
To: Justin Riggs [email address redacted]…

Aloha Justin,

The statement was reviewed and approved by our Attorney General Mark Bennett. I am unable to provide further comment.

Janice Okubo
Communications Office
Hawaii State Department of Health…

Those claims remain unsubstantiated, today, more than six months later.  The only reasonable conclusion is that Dr. Fukino refuses to corroborate it, because it is in fact  incapable of being substantiated with any document, not even with Obama’s original vital records.  The Department has gone so far as to publish a dossier of excuses as to why they will not corroborate it.

In plainer language, one would perhaps say, it’s false!