Thread: Trump birth certificate that wasn’t official UPDATE

Tue Mar 29, 11:31 am ET

Trump produced birth certificate that wasn't official

By Rachel Rose Hartman
Tue Mar 29, 11:31 am ET

Real estate magnate Donald Trump thought he was really sticking it to Barack Obama yesterday by releasing his own birth certificate. The idea, of course, was for The Donald to show that he could easily obtain and show proof of his natural-born citizenship--something Obama hasn't done, according to Trump and those in the "birther" movement.

But now, reports indicate that the reality star's birth certificate wasn't the real deal.

The document Trump released to the conservative news site Newsmax was issued by the Jamaica Queens hospital where Trump was born. But official birth certificates for New York City are only issued by the city Department of Health, the Smoking Gun notes.

Politico's Maggie Haberman called city officials about Trump's document. They confirmed that a valid birth certificate from New York includes the Department of Health's seal and a signature from the city registrar. "City officials said it's not an official document," in reference to the paper that Trump released, Haberman reported via Ben Smith.

Trump, who is considering a 2012 presidential campaign, recently revealed he shares doubts held by "birthers"--those who incorrectly believe the president isn't a natural born citizen.

Trump boasted to Fox's Greta Van Susteren Monday: "Somebody asked to see my birth certificate, and I had it in my hands in less than an hour."

Of course, that was before this latest revelation about the status of Trump's document. Now it remains to be seen whether this self-proclaimed birther sympathizer will become the target of conspiracy theories about the circumstances of his own birth.

UPDATE 12:30pm: Trump aide Michael Cohen told CNN that the release of the unofficial document instead of the official one was an oversight. "In order to rectify the oversight, I am sure he will either find his original birth certificate or order another one and release it," Cohen said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket ... t-official