Birthers

But it turns out that there are at least nine elected Republican reps who have lined up behind Taitz’s effort, signing a Nov. 17 letter attached to an election law complaint against Obama.

I’ve obtained a document from Taitz and posted it in full below. The text above the nine signatures is faded but reads:

“We are greatly concerned in regards to undeniable evidence of Mr. Obama using CT Social Security number 042-68-4425, which was never assigned to him … as well as evidence of forgery in the alleged certified copy of the long form birth certificate of Mr. Obama.”

A meeting between the representatives and the Republican House speaker, Bill O’Brien, was canceled late last month amid concerns about unruly behavior by some of the representatives at the ballot commission hearing, which is now under investigation. And House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt has attempted to distance his caucus from the birthers, calling out their “ridiculous … continued obsession over President Obama’s birth place,” the Concord Monitor reported.

Meanwhile, the Monitor published a blistering editorial on Friday calling out the nine representatives by name:

Later, when the ballot commission unanimously denied Taitz’s request, pandemonium ensued. Shouts of “treason” could be heard. Accornero rose from his seat and began shouting, “Why don’t you rip up the Constitution and throw it out. You all should be accused of treason, and we’ll get people to do that too.” He went on to call Obama a treasonous liar and warned Mavrogeorge that he’d “better wear a mask” when he came to Laconia.

The video is being aired nationally, and the unruly representatives have brought shame on the institution they serve and the state of New Hampshire. They deserve the censure of their colleagues. They also deserve to be replaced by voters.

The nine reps are: Harry Accornero, Susan DeLemus, Al Baldassaro, William Tobin, Moe Villeneuve, Laurie Pettengill, Larry Rappaport, Lucien Vita and Carol Vita.

Taitz tells me she is preparing a petition to the state Supreme Court on the ballot issue and that “there were others who supported me as well” — but their names are not public.

Here’s the letter:

Consent to Join From NH State Representatives

UPDATE: In case there was any doubt that birtherism remains a live issue in the GOP, future primary debate moderator Donald Trump is still raising questions about the authenticity of Obama’s birth certificate.

She got support from state Rep. Harry Accornero, a Republican from Laconia, and a former GOP state representative, Dick Marple.

When the commission voted unanimously to keep Obama’s name on the ballot, another Republican state representative, Susan DeLemus, angrily told the Concord Monitor, “Let’s just bury the Constitution now and have a funeral. It just makes me want to throw up.”

Here, via People for the American Way, are a couple clips capturing the spectacle:

Expect more of this throughout 2012, and, if Obama wins, for another four years.

“The ones that were most positive was a meeting with two counsels for Marco Rubio. They read all the pleadings, they are aware of the issues,” said Taitz, reached at her Orange County dental office.

She now believes both that the birth certificate Obama released in April is a forgery and also that Obama is committing “clear social security fraud — for which anybody would be in prison.”

The two Rubio staffers, according to Taitz, were general counsel Leonard Collins and legislative assistant J.R. Sanchez. Rubio’s office did not return a call seeking comment, but here’s how Taitz described the encounter on a Birther website:

They were very supportive and very helpful. One of them is Leonard Collins; the other is J.R. Sanchez. Although maybe not as much as Sen. Coburn’s chief of staff, they are very much aware of what is going on. As a matter of fact, in my presence, they went online to the Selective Service website, and they checked their own Selective Service registration to make sure that indeed, when you answer with your full name, your birth date, and your social security number, you can get verification. Each one of them went online and did it for himself to make sure that this indeed was correct. Assistant Legal Counsel Sanchez was very supportive, and he actually got in touch with Mr. Jipping, who is the legal counsel for Sen. Orrin Hatch. Hatch is the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Both Mr. Sanchez and Mr. Schwarz urged Mr. Jipping to give me an opportunity to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

A spokeswoman for Allen West confirmed that the congressman’s chief of staff, Jonathan Blyth, met with Taitz on Thursday, but she maintained the congressman has no interest in Birtherism.

“This is a woman who came by to drop off some material and the chief of staff was polite enough to answer her questions,” said West spokeswoman Angela Sachitano. “[Blyth] was quiet most of the time.”

Taitz maintains that Blyth “promised if the issue comes along, West well vote in favor of disclosure for application of a social security number that Obama is fraudulently using, and access to the original birth certificate.”

West himself has previously flirted with Birtherism.

Taitz tells me her goal in all this is to obtain for an invitation to testify at a congressional committee about her never-ending legal crusade to prove the president is not a natural-born citizen.

She said that Jonathan Nabavi, legislative counsel to Rep. Steve King (R-IA), “stated that they do follow the issue. They believe that the social security issue is much more explosive than the birth certificate issue.”

King famously joked on the floor of the House last year, that ” there’s one [birth certificate] in this country we haven’t seen.”

Among the other staffers Taitz says she met with are: Michael Schwartz, chief of staff to Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK); Holt Lackey, counsel at the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Lamar Smith (R-TX); Luke Holland, a legislative assistant to Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) (who once said Birthers “have a point”); and an assistant to Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT).

I’ve sought comment from all the offices involved and will update this post if I hear back.

UPDATE: Brian Phillips, communications director for Sen. Mike Lee, sends this note about his office’s encounter with Taitz:

Mrs. Taitz did not “meet” with our office in the widely understood sense. She arrived at our office unannounced and requested to speak with someone about a “homeland security” issue. She was afforded five minutes with a staffer. Once it was clear that her issue did not reflect one of critical national security importance, she was thanked and the meeting ended.