O'Reilly: My probe better than Sheriff Joe's

Responding to a viewer question about why he's been silent on a just-completed six-month law enforcement investigation into Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility, top Fox News anchorman Bill O'Reilly replied on video, saying: 1) there's no hard evidence Obama isn't eligible; 2) Hawaii newspaper ads proved Obama was born there; and 3) he's just too busy to look into it anyway.

The statements from O'Reilly came in a "Backstage Conversation" piece for premium members of his website posted on YouTube, producing a flood of venom directed at both O'Reilly and Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County, Ariz.

Arpaio's volunteer "Cold Case Posse" of attorneys and retired police worked on the investigation, concluding that Obama's birth certificate image released by the White House very likely is a forgery.

NOTE: In case you missed the news conference of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's "Cold Case Posse," you can view it here.

O'Reilly had responded to a question from Erin, who asked, "Why did you ignore Sheriff Arpaio's assertion that President Obama's birth certificate is a forgery?"

Said O'Reilly, "Well, because Sheriff Arpaio has not presented any hard evidence to back up his assertion. Secondly, I am very busy. I looked into the birth certificate myself and found out there were two separate birth announcements made in Honolulu newspapers on the day Barack Obama was born. It would be impossible for that to happen unless somebody was conspiratorializing the birth of a little mixed-race baby. If that were happening, then, I guess you could have birth announcements planted. But the odds of that , Erin, are about 29 gazillion to one."

It's not the first time O'Reilly has address the birth certificate issue. It was about a year ago when he responded to a question about why Obama has a Social Security number that was assigned to someone with a Connecticut address when he never lived there.

O'Reilly said that likely was the result of his father having "lived in Connecticut." But when that statement proved to be filled with holes, the network scrubbed the audio from the website.

"His father lived in Connecticut for several years," O'Reilly had answered, adding that "babies sometimes get numbers based on addresses provided by their parents."

But no evidence has been found to indicate Obama's father ever lived in the state.

In reference to the points raised by O'Reilly, the investigation in Arizona by professional law enforcement officers and attorneys found that the newspaper listings for Obama's birth, which actually came days later, were not reliable.

The listing in which the Obama birth announcements were published included babies who were born overseas. Also, children as old as 3 were listed as newborns, the investigators documented.

Consequently, the newspaper listings are "not credible" evidence of a birth in Hawaii, according to Mike Zullo, the lead investigator for Arpaio's team.

He told WND today that related evidence still is being compiled and is yet to be released. But he confirmed that "evidence" of an Obama birth in Hawaii because of a newspaper announcement is not reliable.

At ObamaReleaseYourRecords, a blogger pointed out that "at the time of Obama's birth and even still today, under Hawaii law, out of state children and even foreign-born children could/can easily obtain a Hawaiian [Certification of Live Birth.] That also would have triggered the newspaper announcements as they are produced from a list sent by the Hawaii [Department of Health], not the hospital or the parents/grandparents."

The blogger continued, "As for O'Reilly's claim Sheriff Joe provided no evidence. That is an outright lie and anyone that watches the complete press conference can see that. Notice how O'Reilly fails to mention the forged Selective Service registration?"

At the FreeRepublic.com site, readers seem to be stunned by O'Reilly's response.

"He's very busy???" was all one poster had to say.

"Maybe someone should ask him a different question ... are you one of the media figures who have been threatened by the government? Arpaio's chief investigator said that major media figures have told him they've been threatened with their FCC licenses being pulled, investigations by gov't agencies, etc. if they utter one little peep about the bc issue," added another.

The information from Arpaio's press conference, which remains available online, already is being turned into an ebook, Zullo told WND earlier, to ensure people have access.

He said that sources during the investigation told him members of the media were threatened with federal investigations should they continue to report on the birth certificate issue.

"During our investigation, we actually were told [that media] had been threatened with FTC investigations. Commentators [had been] threatened with their jobs," Zullo said.

The threats were so intimidating that some individuals quit their positions over safety concerns for their families, he said.

The problem became getting the information to the American people, he said, in the face of an intentional media blackout. The ebook provides details from the investigation, the evidence accumulated and the issues that remain for Arpaio and his investigators to pursue.

Readers were not pleased with O'Reilly, with "usar91B" stating, "Bill O'Reilly didn't even watch the presser so he doesn't know even the most basic facts, including the evidence that the posse presented and the response to questions about the birth announcements. … Anybody who claims they don't have time to address the biggest scam in this nation's history is either a liar or too stupid to know up from down. Or has been threatened."

Arpaio has confirmed the investigation will continue, but he could not say exactly where it will lead. He suggested a congressional investigation would be appropriate.

The investigative team has asked Arpaio to elevate the investigation to a criminal probe that will make available the resources of his Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office.

The posse says it has identified at least one person of interest in the alleged forgery of Obama's birth certificate.

In fact, Zullo reported, "We have identified the computer manufacture, [and] where that document resided 20 minutes before it was uploaded onto the White House website."

The issue of Obama's birth certificate centers on his eligibility to be president, since the Constitution requires that a president be a "natural-born citizen."

The term is not defined in the Constitution, but at the time the document was written, many experts believe it referred to the offspring of two citizens of the country. Some critics say the place of birth is irrelevant, since Obama has written that Barack Obama Sr., his father, never was a U.S. citizen.

Read the preliminary results of Sheriff Arpaio's Cold Case Posse investigation.

Previous stories:

Arpaio: 'Probable cause' Obama certificate a fraud

What does law say about Obama's eligibility?

Alinsky-style leftist ramps up effort to oust Sheriff Joe

100,000 line up to back Sheriff Joe

Obama backer arrested for death threats against Sheriff Joe

Justice Department blinks in battle against Sheriff Joe

Anti-Arpaio protesters ousted from meeting

Another protest against Sheriff Joe fails

Obama's harassment of Sheriff Joe

'Resign now' protest against Sheriff Joe fizzles