Sheriff Joe Arpaio Continues Obama Birth Certificate Accusations And Lawsuits On His Way Out Of Office

Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, held another news conference on Thursday claiming Arpaio’s cold case detectives had determined President Barack Obama’s online birth certificate was “fraudulent.” Arpaio has been on the forefront of the birther movement which claimed President Obama was not a natural-born citizen. Sheriff Joe’s quest to prove the authenticity of the birth certificate has been ongoing since August of 2011, according to local Phoenix news affiliate KTVK Channel 3.

According to a press release from Sheriff Joe’s office, Arpaio claims his intention was never to go after President Obama, but the authenticity of the document itself. Arpaio, who earned the moniker “America’s Toughest Sheriff,” made cracking down on illegal immigration a platform for the past several terms of his time in office, and Sheriff Joe contends that by proving Obama’s birth certificate as a fraud, he is able to show how easy it is to falsify such records. Arizona, like many other parts of the country, struggles with false documentation and identity theft from illegal immigrants attempting to obtain work permits.

Arpaio’s Cold Case Posse claims that forensic evidence proves the online Obama birth certificate was actually comprised of information lifted from the birth certificate of someone by the name of “Johana Ah’Nee.” According to a press release from Arpaio’s office, “Evidence shows there are 9 separate elements of forensic artifacts that were lifted and place directly on the Obama birth certificate in an apparent attempt to make it appear authentic.”

Sheriff Joe spoke briefly at the news conference, stating he has been asking for five years for the White House to provide microfiche evidence that supported the legality of Obama’s birth certificate, but has received no help. Arpaio vowed to turn his evidence over to the federal authorities and Congress for investigation. Arpaio said he hoped Congress would pass a law that presidents should be vetted and that they would hold public hearings investigating the matter.

“I’m not trying to sound sarcastic, I’m just trying to send a message to Congress. If you can hold hearings on underflated footballs, why can’t you hold one on this?” Arpaio stated, looking astounded.

The revelation by Sheriff Joe Arpaio is just another one of his growing controversies. Arpaio has been accused of human rights violations for his jail policies, failing to investigate sex crimes and clearing other cases which had not been investigated, violating election fund rules, racial profiling, and various other forms of misconduct. Maricopa County residents repeatedly voted for Arpaio as the sheriff for Arizona’s largest county allowing Sheriff Joe to serve six terms since 1993.

According to the Arizona Republic, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has cost taxpayers more than $142 million in legal fees, lawsuit settlements, and court awards since taking office in 1993. Maricopa County residents apparently were fed up with footing Arpaio’s bills, including paying for his Cold Case team to fly to Hawaii to challenge Obama’s birth certificate, and Sheriff Joe lost his re-election bid this past November making way for newcomer Paul Penzone.

While Arizonans may think they are out of the woods when it comes to having to absorb the costs of Sheriff Joe, however, another racial profiling and false imprisonment lawsuit has emerged against Arpaio, according to Huffington Post. Jacinta Gonzalez Goodman, a field director for a local Latino advocacy group, claims that she was illegally arrested and detained this past March.

Goodman was arrested following a protest march in which she was part of a group blocking a highway. After presenting her Arizona state driver’s license for identification, Goodman claims that Maricopa County Sheriff’s officer brought in ICE agents to question her, despite the fact she is a U.S. citizen while two of her fellow protestors who were non-latino were set free.

“Because my last name is Gonzalez I was treated differently in Arpaio’s jail,” Goodman said. The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office had no comment on the lawsuit.

For the full video of Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s news conference, see the link below:

[Featured Image by Alex Wong/Getty Images.]