Did Obama Registered As A Foreign Student

Q: Has a "smoking gun" been constitute to testify Obama was not born a U.Due south. citizen? Did he attend Occidental College on a scholarship for strange students?

A: This chain e-mail is a transparent Apr Fools' Day hoax. Information technology fabricates an AP news story nearly an nonexistent group, and makes false claims virtually Obama and the Fulbright program.

FULL QUESTION

I recently received this and wanted to know if it is accurate, and what the implications are.

Thank you

OBAMA – SMOKING GUN FINALLY FOUND?

April ane, 2009

AP- WASHINGTON D.C. – In a motility certain to fuel the argue over Obama's qualifications for the presidency, the group "Americans for Freedom of Information" has released copies of President Obama'south college transcripts from Occidental Higher. Released today, the transcript indicates that Obama, nether the name Barry Soetoro, received financial aid as a foreign educatee from Indonesia equally an undergraduate at the schoolhouse. The transcript was released by Occidental College in compliance with a court lodge in a suit brought by the group in the Superior Court of California. The transcript shows that Obama (Soetoro) applied for fiscal help and was awarded a fellowship for foreign students from the Fulbright Foundation Scholarship plan. To qualify, for the scholarship, a educatee must merits foreign citizenship. This document would seem to provide the smoking gun that many of Obama'southward detractors take been seeking.

[EET ]

The news has created a firestorm at the White Business firm every bit the release casts increasing dubiousness near Obama's legitimacy and qualification to serve as president. When reached for annotate in London, where he has been in meetings with British Prime number Government minister Gordon Brown, Obama smiled but refused annotate on the issue. Meanwhile, White Firm press secretary Robert Gibbs scoffed at the report stating that this was manifestly some other attempt by a right-wing conservative group to discredit the president and undermine the administration's efforts to movement the state in a new management.

U.k.'s Daily Mail has as well carried the story in a front end-page article titled, "Obama Eligibility Questioned", leading some to speculate that the story may overshadow economic issues on Obama's first official visit to the U.Thousand.

In a related matter, nether growing pressure from several groups, Justice Antonin Scalia announced that the Supreme Courtroom agreed on Tuesday to hear arguments concerning Obama's legal eligibility to serve as President in a example brought by Leo Donofrio of New Bailiwick of jersey. This lawsuit claims Obama's dual citizenship disqualified him from serving every bit president. Donofrio'due south instance is just one of 18 suits brought past citizens enervating proof of Obama'southward citizenship or qualification to serve as president.

Gary Kreep of the United States Justice Foundation has released the results of their investigation of Obama'due south entrada spending. This study estimates that Obama has spent upwards of $950,000 in campaign funds in the past year with eleven constabulary firms in 12 states for legal resources to block disclosure of whatsoever of his personal records. Mr. Kreep indicated that the investigation is still ongoing only that the final study will be provided to the U.Due south. attorney general, Eric Holder. Mr. Holder has refused to comment on the affair.

[/EET]

FULL Reply

The claim is that Obama received a Fulbright scholarship for foreign students, proving that he is not a U.S. citizen and therefore non eligible to be president. Supposedly this was reported by The Associated Press. But the claim is false and the story is a hoax.

April False

We contacted The Associated Press just to ostend what should be obvious, that no such news story always appeared on the news agency'due south wires. Jack Stokes, the AP'southward manager of media relations, gave us this statement:

AP: The story purported to be from The Associated Press on April 1 is fake.

Furthermore, the group that the fake story credits with gaining release of the supposed "smoking gun" documents is also a faux. Searches of news accounts and Internet sites showed no trace of any group called "Americans for Liberty of Data," until recently. On May 6 such a group did appear, but only as a joke to make fun of anyone who had fallen for the April Fools' Twenty-four hours gag. An anonymous blogger set a site calling itself "Americans for Liberty of Information: We Do Not Exist." Its first entry begins:

"Americans for Freedom of Data" May 6: Nosotros are the Americans for Freedom of Information. We are a fictitious group of individuals; i.e. we do not exist. And even so, for a nonexistent system we wield great ability and knowledge! O Yea, Verily. OK, actually, not verily at all. Anti-verily, as a matter of an utter lack of fact.

Update: On May xi an "Americans for Freedom of Information" Spider web site was registered to a woman in Hilton, N.Y. named Debra J.M. Smith. This site of class did not exist when on appointment of the fake AP story, and Smith told united states she is not responsible for the claims it makes.

Where Truth Ends

Not all versions of this e-mail acquit the telltale April 1 dateline, however. And more than a calendar month afterward it beginning appeared we continue to become questions virtually whether it is true, and to meet postings on conservative blogs that seem to accept its claims as fact. But non only is the bulletin a hoax, its central claims are as false as they can be.

Among the few claims that are true in this message is that from fall 1979 through spring 1981 Obama attended Occidental College, a small (currently ane,825 students, according to its Web site) school in Los Angeles. After that he transferred to Columbia Academy in New York City to finish his undergraduate education. The photo here is from his application to Occidental.

Information technology'south also truthful that Obama was on scholarship while at Occidental, according to articles in the Los Angeles Times and Boston World.

But that'south about where the truth ends. For those who might believe that even a fake news story quoting a nonexistent organization might still accept some validity, we offering these facts:

No Fulbright: Contrary to what this e-mail claims, Obama's scholarship wasn't a Fulbright. Information technology'southward true that many foreign students come to the U.Southward. under the Fulbright program, sponsored past the United States Department of Country's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. But Fulbrights for foreign students are primarily intended for graduate students studying for masters' degrees or Ph.D. degrees, not for college freshmen and sophomores.

No "Soetoro": Another false merits is that Obama attended and received fiscal help "under the proper name Barry Soetoro," using the surname of his Indonesian stepfather Lolo Soetoro. The college's Managing director of Communications Jim Tranquada told u.s. at that place'due south no record of that. He told us in an eastward-mail:

Occidental spokesman Tranquada: Contemporary public documents, such as the 1979-80 freshman 'Lookbook' published at the beginning of President Obama's commencement year at Occidental, list him as Barack Obama. All of the Occidental alumni I have spoken to from that era (1979-81) who knew him, knew him every bit Barry Obama.

No Records: It'due south non even true that Occidental has released Obama'southward educatee records, as claimed in the bulletin. Nor accept courts ordered any such records to be made public. According to the higher spokesman:

Occidental spokesman Tranquada: To engagement, all of the litigation filed regarding President Obama's student records at Occidental has been rejected by the courts. Occidental has not released his transcripts or his student file.

Furthermore there's no trace of the supposed Daily Mail service story headlined "Obama Eligibility Questioned," either on the paper's Web site or in the Nexis database of stories published by the newspaper. The claim that the Supreme Courtroom recently agreed to hear a example brought by Leo Donofrio is also faux; the high court in fact refused to grant a hearing in that case dorsum on December. viii, 2008.

There is a group chosen the "United States Justice Foundation," and information technology does list a Gary Kreep as its executive director. But nosotros find no report of any study of Obama's legal spending on its Web site, or whatever mention of turning information over to Attorney General Eric Holder. We've asked Kreep well-nigh this in an e-mail message, and volition update this item should we receive a answer.

Update: May 28: Kreep responded simply: "It's all a hoax."

-Brooks Jackson

Source: https://www.factcheck.org/2009/05/was-obama-born-in-the-usa/

Posted by: buntinghimeacerhe.blogspot.com

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