It was August 17, 2011. Approximately 350 people had gathered for a meeting of the Arizona Surprise Tea Party to hear Dr. Jerome Corsi discuss his new book, “Where’s the Birth Certificate?” I had read Dr. Corsi’s book, and what it revealed about Barack Obama was troubling to say the least. The book reinforced my concerns that developed after viewing President Obama’s birth certificate, which was posted as a computer PDF file on the White House website on April 27, 2011.
At this point, I must clear up some issues. I was not then, nor am I now a “Birther.” I simply wanted to know the truth about the various anomalies that I had viewed on the President’s birth certificate. The Left has strategically, but erroneously given credit to Dr. Jerome Corsi as being the initiator of the plan for Sheriff Arpaio to investigate the Obama document. Dr. Corsi came to the August 17, 2011 Surprise Tea Party meeting at my request, at my personal expense and after I gave him my written proposal about petitioning Sheriff Arpaio for a criminal investigation into Obama’s long form birth certificate. Dr. Corsi graciously consented to participate. Apparently, because it was easier to discredit the project as “conspiratorial” in nature, Dr. Corsi was labeled the initiator of the project by the Left. Dr. Corsi was simply the draw for my petition. As the initiators of the project, Denise and I were interviewed for over 3 hours by 5 members of the non-profit corporation called The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Posse ( MCSO CCP). The first question asked by the CCP? “Are you going to write a book or run for public office?” We replied that our motivation for the request was to seek the truth and not to write a book or run for political office. Dr. Corsi was subsequently interviewed by the CCP. I still give credit to the good Lord for the idea.
For the 242 of you who signed my petition nearly two years ago, I want to thank you for having the courage to take a stand for the truth, especially in light of the current Obama Administration scandals that are being revealed almost on a daily basis. I believe that I have a responsibility to give you a brief update regarding what has transpired during the past twenty-two and a half months.
During our August 18, 2011 meeting with Sheriff Arpaio, my wife Denise and I, along with three members of the Surprise Tea Party and Dr. Corsi, presented the petition with your signatures requesting a criminal investigation into the alleged Obama birth certificate. On August 22, 2011, I met alone with Sheriff Arpaio and Chief Sands and presented a formal letter of request for the investigation along with an evidence book. I was asked by Sheriff Arpaio to become the liaison between the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) and the Surprise Tea Party. Sheriff Arpaio assigned the investigation to the all-volunteer MCSO CCP. The Sheriff also directed that all documentation was to flow to the MCSO through me. This one directive soon became a major issue of contention when Dr. Orly Taitz tried to submit information to the investigation. She was informed by the CCP about the process. She objected and was rather abrupt with me. Much to Dr. Taitz’ credit, she later apologized. I was impressed with her sincerity, and I accepted her apology. She has worked tirelessly for years on the eligibility issue.
While functioning as a Surprise Tea Party board member, I also did volunteer research for the MCSO CCP as a private citizen for 7 months. I was twice asked to formally join the CCP, once in January 2012 and also in April 2012. Mike Zullo recruited me by invitation over 3,500 existing Posse members, and I was sworn into the CCP on April 17, 2012 by Sheriff Arpaio. I participated in interviews, did research, and traveled in 8 states. Volunteers are not paid; however, I was provided with a county unmarked Crown Vic, a CCP badge, and a county gas key for my use as a Posse member. Posse members are support for law enforcement; they are not sworn police officers. I resigned from the CCP on June 30, 2012. I was twice asked by Zullo, over a 10 day period, to reconsider my resignation. During my stint with the Posse, high levels of stress landed me in the hospital. I was also uncomfortable with the potential liability issues that I could see as a CCP volunteer. But among the most pressing concerns, a year ago, I couldn’t see the investigation being brought to any meaningful conclusion. One year later, I still see no meaningful end in sight to the CCP investigation. The extended investigation may have stimulated contributions to Sheriff Arpaio’s re-election campaign, and it most certainly resulted in contributions to the CCP’s financial coffers.
On March 1, 2012, the MCSO CCP announced to the public that probable cause existed that the crimes of forgery had been committed regarding the Obama birth certificate and his Selective Service System registration form. Since March 1, 2012, to my knowledge, no criminal complaint has ever been filed by Sheriff Arpaio and the MCSO CCP with state or federal officials, and all members of Congress have not been notified of their findings. Crimes have been committed. One can only speculate about the lack of action and what appears to be an unwillingness to release information to those in higher authority. Is this effort really about writing another book?
Just prior to the March 1, 2012 press conference, Dr. Jerome Corsi and CCP Commander Mike Zullo co-authored a book regarding the Obama birth certificate investigation. Many on the Left and the Right were highly critical of the CCP publishing a book that is still currently for sale on the internet. I was shocked. Could it get any worse? In a recent article published by the news outlet and book publisher WND, it was disclosed that the CCP is currently working on a possible 700 page report. Will the 700 page report be released free to the 242 petition signers and to the general public, or, will it be sold at retail as a second book? Are book tours coming next?
At a recent (June 4, 2013) Surprise Tea Party meeting, Commander Zullo curiously referred to the CCP investigation as a “fishing expedition” and said that taxpayer money can’t be used on a “fishing expedition.” Apparently, the investigation wasn’t considered a “fishing expedition” when Maricopa County taxpayer dollars were used to send a compensated sworn MCSO Deputy to Hawaii to assist with the investigation. As I understand it, a sworn compensated Deputy is required to travel out of state with all volunteer Posse members when their official duties take them across Arizona borders. To the CCP’s credit, they tried to reimburse the county with a portion of the nearly $10,000 in taxpayer funds used for the MCSO Deputy’s trip to Hawaii. The Maricopa County Board of Supervisors refused the partial repayment of private funds offered by the CCP.
Here’s where it may get a little muddy for the possible publication and sale of a second book by the CCP. Now that taxpayer dollars have been utilized to send a paid MCSO Deputy to Hawaii to assist the volunteer, non-profit corporation called The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Posse, it could be argued that Maricopa County taxpayer dollars have been used to partially fund the investigation. Do potential second book sale profits now go to the county, or to the CCP? What is the opinion of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors regarding the apparent use of County taxpayer dollars, our tax dollars, in conjunction with the possible publication of a second retail book by the CCP?
On June 1, 2013, CCP members appeared at Richard Mack’s Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) convention in St. Charles, MO. CCP Commander Zullo gave a closed door presentation to law enforcement officials and at least one member of Congress. There has been talk about trying to get members of the CSPOA to back Sheriff Arpaio if and when he ever approaches all members of Congress with his findings. We approached Sheriff Arpaio in August of 2011 because Congress wouldn’t investigate. If anything, with the current NSA wiretap scandal unfolding, members of Congress will exhibit even more timidity regarding the birth certificate issue.
On June 28, 2013, Sheriff Arpaio and Commander Zullo went on the air with Carl Gallups’ Freedom Friday radio program to give updates. Sheriff Arpaio stated that he could use taxpayer funds for the criminal investigation, but he won’t. He stated that he authorized Zullo to attend the CSPOA meeting as his representative. From what I’m told, Zullo was not accompanied out of state by a sworn MCSO Deputy as required by department policy. By not assigning a Deputy to Zullo, county taxpayer dollars were not utilized. Why aren’t taxpayer dollars being utilized with the full resources of the Sheriff’s Department for the most important criminal investigation since Watergate? At the end of the interviews, familiar requests were made for more donations from the public for the cause. Zullo’s most remarkable statement was to tell the listening audience to “stand down” and recommended that people hold off “a little longer” contacting members of Congress on the birth certificate issue. Asking for delay? Can America really afford another delay? Weren’t the defenders in Benghazi also told to “stand down?“ We all know how that worked. It’s time for Team Arpaio to shoot straight with the American public and show us their hand. Is it a Royal Flush, or is it all just a bluff? Time will tell.
President Obama could have saved us all a lot of time, aggravation, acrimony, and division if he would have only had the common courtesy to put the paper-hard copy of his Hawaiian long form birth certificate on display. It seems obvious to many that he has an agenda that is not in any way related to transparency or the best interests of the country. America deserves to know the truth about the alleged Obama birth certificate. Hopefully, the truth will come from a Congressional investigation or a filed criminal complaint (and not from another book published by the CCP.) America remains in perilous straits. God help us!
Many thanks go out to the members of Waking Up America; The Arizona [2012] Project; The Arizona Freedom Alliance; The Surprise Tea Party; The Sun City West Tea Party; and The Courageous 242 who exercised their Constitutional rights and signed a petition in good faith on August 17, 2011. Members of Congress would do well to remember you and follow your example of courage during our celebration this week of America’s freedom from the yoke of British tyranny.
Regards,
Brian Reilly
Sun City West, Arizona.
Photo Credit: Andrew Aliferis (Creative Commons)
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