Is Obama's COLB Forged? Reports that Obama's COLB is Authentic

As outlined in other posts (here), Mr. Philip A. Berg alleges, in his lawsuit against Obama, that "[A]s posted all over the internet, three (3) independent Document Forensic Experts performed extensive Forensic testing on the Certificate of Live Birth posted on Obama's campaign website. The Forensic Expert findings were the Certificate of Live Birth (COLB) was in fact a forgery." (Note:  Berg's complaint has been dismissed, but he is appealing in both the Third Circuit and the Supreme Court.  See here for current status of his appeals.)

We are providing special pages for each of the self-identified experts and their findings.  Thus, we include here the information we have located to date which indicates that, in fact, the COLB reflecting Obama's Hawaii Birth (and published on the Obama campaign website) is authentic.

(Note:  If you are aware of additional evidence, that either supports or refuts the allegations, please submit it through a Comment, and we will update this information accordingly! Thank you!)

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12/30 Update:  Information re: Hawaii DOH statements updated per recently received links/info.

11/3 Update:  We have received information that calls into doubt the veracity of a report regarding a VA lawsuit and, therefore, have removed striking through it pending confirmation. Oct. 30 Update: Virginia Board of Elections reportedly submits "original" COLB to Virginia Court.

Documentation the COLB Reflecting Obama's Hawaii Birth is authentic

The following reports indicate that Obama's COLB, reflecting that he was born in Hawaii, is authentic:  The Hawaii Department of Health (Original Birth Certificate) - 12/30 Updated/New The Hawaii Department of Health (COLB) The Sunday Advertisor [Honolulu, Hawaii] The Star Bulletin [Hawaii] World Net Daily FactCheck.org

The Hawaii Department of Health Confirms that Obama Was Born in Hawaii, as Reflected on Original Birth Certificate

On October 31, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, Director of the Hawaii Department of Health released the following press release:  "There have been numerous requests for Sen. Barack Hussein Obama's official birth certificate. State law (Hawai'i Revised Statutes §338-18) prohibits the release of a certified birth certificate to persons who do not have a tangible interest in the vital record. "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. "No state official, including Governor Linda Lingle, has ever instructed that this vital record be handled in a manner different from any other vital record in the possession of the State of Hawai'i ." See Hawaii DOH News Release, Oct. 31, 2008 (08-93). On November 3, the Chicago Tribune's Swamp reported that Ms. Okubo (Health Department Spokeswoman, per the Press Release) confirmed in both e-mail and telephone interviews that Obama was born in Hawaii: "Seeking to squelch persistent rumors that Sen. Barack Obama isn't eligible to become president because he allegedly was born outside the United States, a Hawaiian official has confirmed she has "personally seen and verified" that the state "has Sen. Obama's original birth certificate" - meaning Obama was born in the Aloha state, and is therefore an American citizen. [Quote from Official News Release, already quoted above.] Does this mean Obama was born in Hawaii? "Yes," said Hawaii Health Department spokeswoman Janice Okubo, in both email and telephone interviews with the Tribune. "That's what Dr. Fukino is saying." Obama Hawaiian-born: Citizen for sure, The Swamp/Chicago Tribune, November 3, 2008. See also, e.g., Officials Verify Birth Certificate of Obama, Star-Bulletin, Nov. 1, 2008 ("The state health director said yesterday she has personally seen and verified Sen. Barack Obama's original birth certificate in an effort to address numerous requests for the document...."); Hawaii Officials Declare Obama Birth Certificate Genuine, Honolulu Advertiser, Oct. 31, 2008: "State officials say there's no doubt Barack Obama was born in Hawai'i. Health Department Director Dr. Chiyome Fukino said today she and the registrar of vital statistics, Alvin Onaka, have personally verified that the health department holds Obama's original birth certificate."); Obama's Certificate of Birth OK, State Says; Health Director Issues Voucher in Response to 'Ridiculous' Barrage, Honolulu Advertiser, Nov. 1, 2008 (""This has gotten ridiculous," state health director Dr. Chiyome Fukino said yesterday. "There are plenty of other, important things to focus on, like the economy, taxes, energy." So, in what likely will be a vain attempt to halt the inquiries, Fukino yesterday issued a statement saying that she and the registrar of vital statistics personally inspected Obama's birth certificate and found it to be valid. Will this be enough to quiet the doubters? "I hope so," Fukino said. "We need to get some work done." Fukino issued her statement to try to stomp out persistent rumors that Obama was not born in Honolulu -- and is therefore not a U.S. citizen and thus ineligible to run for president.")

The Hawaii Department of Health Confirms that the COLB is "A Valid Hawaii State Birth Certificate"

As reported by Amy Hollyfield of PolitiFact, "On June 13, 2008, Obama's campaign finally released a copy, while launching a fact-check Web site of its own, Fightthesmears.com. The site is a direct response to allegations about Obama that won't go away: He's Muslim. He took the oath of office on a Koran. He refuses to say the Pledge of Allegiance. PolitiFact has researched all of these accusations and none of them are true. When the birth certificate arrived from the Obama campaign it confirmed his name as the other documents already showed it. Still, we took an extra step: We e-mailed it to the Hawaii Department of Health, which maintains such records, to ask if it was real. 'It's a valid Hawaii state birth certificate,' spokesman Janice Okubo told us." See "Obama's birth certificate: Final chapter," PolitiFact.com (Jun. 27, 2008) (emphasis added). About PolitiFact. See also "Lawsuit questions Obama's eligibility for office," Washington Times, Aug. 28, 2008, which reported as follows: "Backers of the idea that Mr. Obama isn't a natural-born citizen say Mr. Obama's certification of live birth doesn't quell the issue. They say a certification can be obtained after birth. But the Hawaii State Department of Health said Monday that there is no difference between a certificate and a certification of live birth in the eyes of the state. For instance, either can be used to confirm U.S. citizenship to obtain a passport or state ID, said Alvin Onaka, a research and statistics officer at the Department of Health."

The Sunday Advertisor Published Obama's Birth Announcement in August 1961

A Honolulu, Hawaii newspaper (apparently, the "Sunday Advertiser") published an announcement of Obama's borth on August 13, 1961 - six days after his birth.  See here and here.  Also available here and here. 10/27 Update:  The Honolulu Sunday Advertiser requires proof, via official state-issued birth certificate before printing a birth announcement.  See here ("IMPORTANT: You must attach a photocopy of your baby s official state-issued birth certificate; we cannot print your announcement without it."). We are awaiting written confirmation, but have received verbal confirmation that the practice in 1961 was to report on births based on Health Bureau Statistics only.

The (Hawaii) Star Bulletin Published Obama's Birth Announcement in August 1961

10/21 Update:  Thanks to a reader tip, we have located the copy of the reported Star-Bulletin announcement. See announcement here.  Also available here. Source of annoucement: In posting that annoucement, the user stated as follows: "Here's a copy I made today of the August 14th (could have been the 15th or 16th), 1961 Star Bulletin newspaper showing Obama's birth announcement stored on microfilm at the Hawaii State Library in Honolulu. I had to enlarge it to the point of losing the top of the page with the date and day in order to make it readable. The microfilm is stored in the basement of the library and was in the box marked Star Bulletin Aug 1, 1961-Aug 16, 1961. ..." See here (requires registration). 10/27 Update:  The Star-Bulletin prints birth announcements directly from the Health Department records. See here ("Each Sunday, the Star-Bulletin publishes Oahu vital statistics for marriage licenses and birth certificates filed with the state Department of Health's Vital Statistics System.") We are awaiting written confirmation, but have received oral confirmation that this practice was in place in 1961.

WorldNetDaily reports that the birth certificate is authentic.

The WorldNetDaily has also investigated the claim.  WND (a) found the document to be authentic; (b) uncovered forgeries and alterations made by the purported "experts": "A separate WND investigation into Obama's birth certificate utilizing forgery experts also found the document to be authentic. The investigation also revealed methods used by some of the bloggers to determine the document was fake involved forgeries, in that a few bloggers added text and images to the certificate scan that weren't originally there." See "Democrat sues Sen. Obama over 'fraudulent candidacy'; Lawsuit disputing U.S. citizenship based in part on discredited claims," World Net Daily (Aug. 23, 2008) (emphasis added). Given that WorldNetDaily is the publication for whom Jerome Corsi reports, it defies credibility to argue that that organization is any sort of "pro-Obama" tool. (Jerome Corsi is the person who wrote the widely-discredited anti-Obama book, The Obama Nation. See sources cited in Wikipedia* for more information regarding Mr. Corsi's politics and past publications. See also Important Note re: Wikipedia.

Factcheck.org reports that the birth certificate is authentic.

See Born in the U.S.A., Factcheck.org (Aug. 21, 2008, Updated: Aug 26, 2008; Updated Nov. 1, 2008). While some of those perpetuating the forgery allegation discount Factcheck.org as biased, we note two points: (1) See the other sources, above, which corroborate FactCheck's findings; and (2) Visit Factcheck.org and review their information and make your own judgment as to whether they're pro-Obama.  10/11 Update:  See Is Factcheck.org "in the tank for" Obama? Is Factcheck.org owned by the Chicago Annenberg Foundation?