Obama birth certificate: Prominent ‘birther’ still has doubts

Orly Taitz, self-annointed leader of the so-called “birther” movement, says she welcomes the White House’s decision to release President Obama’s long-form birth certificate but still has questions about his past that would put his eligibility to hold office in doubt.

Contacted just hours after the president condemned “carnival barkers” who have propogated conspiracies about his past, Taitz said his Hawaiian birth was only one of a several questions she has, also alleging she has proof that he committed Social Security fraud and lied about his studies at Columbia University.

Still, she compared the decision to release the more detailed birth record “a step in the right direction, just like the release of the Watergate tapes was a step in the right direction by Richard Nixon.”

“We have to continue with transparency that Barack Obama has promised the nation, and continue working on this issue, getting to the bottom of the facts,” said Taitz, a California lawyer and dentist.

Taitz said she’s been bombarded with media requests after the White House announcement, and has only briefly inspected the document released Wednesday morning. Based on that initial glance she said she has some questions as to its veracity. For instance, she wondered why Obama’s father’s race was listed as “African,” when she says the contemporary term used would have been “Negro.”

Taitz has originated a raft of legal challenges against Obama. She has three court hearings in just the coming month, including one next week in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Pasadena division in the case of Drake vs. Obama.

“This is not just Joe Schmoe. This is a guy sitting in the position of president of the United States in charge of the whole U.S. miltary and nuclear arsenal. We need to know the answer to all of those questions,” she said.

Andy Martin, who says he is running for president on a birther platform, planned to hold a press conference in New York to claim “triumph” in forcing Obama’s release. He’s also scheduled radio interviews in several states to discuss the issue.

michael.memoli@latimes.com