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On Monday, I chided the Washington Post’s Matthew Mosk for missing a key point in the story of credit-card fraud in Barack Obama’s campaign. Today he puts that point front and center in his follow-up report. Team Obama deliberately turned off the systems that would have guarded against the kind of fraudulent donations that have accrued millions to their coffers: Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is allowing donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor’s identity, campaign...

Sen. Barack Obama's record-breaking $150 million fundraising performance in September has for the first time prompted questions about whether presidential candidates should be permitted to collect huge sums of money through faceless credit card transactions over the Internet. Lawyers for both the Republican and Democratic parties have asked the Federal Election Commission to examine the issue, pointing to dozens of examples of what they say are lax screening procedures by the presidential campaigns that permitted donors using false names or stolen credit cards to make contributions. "There is so much money coming in and yet very little ability to say...

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) plans to file a fundraising complaint Monday alleging that John McCain's campaign accepted contributions that exceeded the federal limits and took donations from anonymous backers. Democrats say in the complaint to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that Sen. McCain's (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign received 6,653 donations that each were at least $1,000 greater than the $2,300 donation limit. McCain also took 23 anonymous contributions that were greater than the $50 limit on donations from unnamed supporters, the complaint says. The complaint is based on records provided by the McCain campaign on its own website. The DNC...

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) plans to file a fundraising complaint Monday alleging that John McCain's campaign accepted contributions that exceeded the federal limits and took donations from anonymous backers. Democrats say in the complaint to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that Sen. McCain's (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign received 6,653 donations that each were at least $1,000 greater than the $2,300 donation limit. McCain also took 23 anonymous contributions that were greater than the $50 limit on donations from unnamed supporters, the complaint says. The complaint is based on records provided by the McCain campaign on its own website. The DNC...

One of the more tiring duelling refrains of the presidential campaign is that: 1) John McCain was not born in the United States, and cannot, under the Constitution, serve as president, and, 2) Barack Obama says he was born in Hawaii, but cannot show a birth certificate. As tired as the line of reasoning on both fronts may be, it keeps showing up in the reader-comments on postings here in the Swamp. So we're here this morning, a little more than a week from the election of the 44th presient of the United States, to assure readers that both of...

A federal judge in Philadelphia last night threw out a complaint by a Montgomery County lawyer who claimed that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was not qualified to be president and that his name should be removed from the Nov. 4 ballot.[snip] In a 34-page memorandum and opinion, the judge said Berg's allegations of harm were "too vague and too attenuated" to confer standing on him or any other voters. Surrick ruled that Berg's attempts to use certain laws to gain standing to pursue his claim that Obama was not a natural-born citizen were "frivolous and not worthy of discussion."...

The increasing use of online financial tools, debit cards and prepaid credit cards to make political contributions has created technological loopholes in federal and public oversight of campaign donations. The result has been a recent spate of news stories raising questions about apparently implausible or suspicious donations to the presidential campaigns. Right-of-center activists also claim that Barack Obama's campaign has collected tens of millions of dollars from suspect overseas donors. Their complaints spurred the Republican National Committee on Oct. 6 to ask the Federal Election Commission for an investigation of the Obama donations. To test the campaigns' practices, this author...

The Republican National Committee on Thursday supplemented its Oct. 6 complaint to the Federal Election Committee and — citing new revelations by Newsmax and other news organizations — called on the FEC to “immediately conduct a full audit” of the Obama campaign accounts. The RNC complaint asserts that the Obama campaign had demonstrated a “lack of compliance with the law” because of its acceptance of prohibited donations from foreign nationals, excessive contributions from individuals, and donations from unknown sources. At the same time, RNC officials said they recognize that the FEC has “no authority” to freeze campaign accounts or to...

The Federal Election Commission has joined Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee in asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a Montgomery County attorney seeking Obama's ouster from the November ballot. Philip Berg, who claims the Illinois senator was born in Kenya and can't run for president because he isn't a natural-born U.S. citizen, has no standing to make the claim, according to the FEC. The motion, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, echoes one filed last month by Obama and the DNC that states Berg hasn't demonstrated how he personally would suffer even...

The 2008 election cycle has been a busy one for legal disputes over the qualifications of presidential candidates, with federal cases having been filed to challenge both major candidates’ eligibility under the “natural born Citizen” clause. These cases unquestionably present vital questions of constitutional law, touching on matters of self-evident national importance. It is doubtful, however, that they are justiciable in lower federal courts. Standing requirements and the political question doctrine make it unlikely that a federal court will reach the merits in cases of the type filed to date.

The enigmatic phrase “natural born citizen” poses a series of problems for contemporary originalism. New Originalists, like Justice Scalia, focus on the original public meaning of the constitutional text. The notion of a “natural born citizen” was likely a term of art derived from the idea of a “natural born subject” in English law—a category that most likely did not extend to persons, like Senator McCain, who were born outside sovereign territory. But the Constitution speaks of “citizens” and not “subjects,” introducing uncertainties and ambiguities that might (or might not) make McCain eligible for the presidency.

Federal Election Commission Files Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Proper Jurisdiction Because of its status as a government entity, the Federal Election Commission was given until today to file an answer to the original complaint filed by attorney Philip Berg on August 21, 2008. This afternoon, the FEC met that deadline when it filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, answering Berg's complaint by arguing that he "lacks standing to raise the issue of a candidate's constitutional eligibility." "Moreover," the motion reads, "even if Berg had standing to raise the constitutional eligibility issue, the Commission...

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign paid more than $800,000 to an offshoot of the liberal Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now for services the Democrat's campaign says it mistakenly misrepresented in federal reports. An Obama spokesman said Federal Election Commission reports would be amended to show Citizens Services Inc. -- a subsidiary of ACORN -- worked in "get-out-the-vote" projects, instead of activities such as polling, advance work and staging major events as stated in FEC finance reports filed during the primary. FEC spokeswoman Mary Brandenberger said it is not unusual for campaigns to amend reports, even regarding large...

Who is Vera Baker? Some people in Chicago claim she was Obama’s Finance Director for his 2004 Senate campaign. FEC Senate campaign records show she was paid a pretty penny as “Finance Director”. However, people familiar with Obama’s 2004 Senate campaign say Claire Serdiuk was Obama’s Finance Director. Looking through everything we can see online for that 2004 campaign, Claire Serdiuk is consistently listed as the Finance Director - because that’s what she was. There’s no mention of Vera Baker…but Vera Baker was paid as the “Finance Director” too. And then, suddenly, Vera Baker was relocated to New York. Right...

Barack Obama's money machine is fueled by the likes of Martha Murphy, a grandmother who has donated 104 times for a total of $2,475.34. Murphy has used her credit card to donate in amounts as small as $10. "It is amazing how it adds up," she said. Obama has revolutionized campaign fundraising, deploying the Internet to tap into more donors than any candidate in history. The campaign has reported $160 million in contributions from supporters who donated $200 or less, more than a third of the $458 million raised. But as Obama sets records, his fundraising has come under scrutiny....

Last December, someone using the name “Test Person,” from “Some Place, UT,” made a series of contributions, the largest being $764, to Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign totaling $2,410.07. Someone identifying himself as “Jockim Alberton,” from 1581 Leroy Avenue in Wilmington, Del., began giving to Mr. Obama last November, contributing $10 and $25 at a time for a total of $445 through the end of February. The only problem? There is no Leroy Avenue in Wilmington. And Jockim Alberton, who listed his employer and occupation as “Fdsa Fdsa,” does not show up in a search of public records.

Last December, someone using the name “Test Person,” from “Some Place, UT,” made a series of contributions, the largest being $764, to Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign totaling $2,410.07. Someone identifying himself as “Jockim Alberton,” from 1581 Leroy Avenue in Wilmington, Del., began giving to Mr. Obama last November, contributing $10 and $25 at a time for a total of $445 through the end of February. The only problem? There is no Leroy Avenue in Wilmington. And Jockim Alberton, who listed his employer and occupation as “Fdsa Fdsa,” does not show up in a search of public records. An analysis...

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/election/s_584284.html

Attached is Philip J. Berg's Opposition to Defendants, the DNC and Obama's Motion for Protective Order Staying Discovery pending Decision on their Motion to Dismiss. If the Protective Order were granted, discovery could not occur until the standing issue has been resolved and only if it is in favor of the plaintiff. Following is an excerpt from the response: PLAINTIFF’S RESPONSE IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANTS BARACK H. OBAMA AND THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE’S MOTION FOR A PROTECTIVE ORDER STAYING DISCOVERY PENDING DECISION ON DISPOSITVE MOTION .... 1. Defendants’ pending Motion to Dismiss does not entitle them to a Protective Order...

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama's campaign distanced itself Thursday from its $800,000 payment linked to the liberal ACORN organization, which is under investigation in several states where it is suspected of filing fraudulent voter registrations. Federal Election Commission reports show ACORN-affiliated Citizens Services Inc. got $832,598 from the Obama campaign for get-out-the-vote work during the primaries. But those payments stopped in May and the Obama campaign says they should not be an election issue. "This is going to be an historic election with unprecedented voter participation, and we are committed to protecting the integrity of the voting process," Obama...

Stockholders and managers of firms, whose interests lie in higher prices for what they own or manage, miss few opportunities to deride short sellers. As Holman Jenkins of the Wall Street Journal put it, "short selling is a business widely unpopular with everyone who has a stake in seeing stock prices go up."Regulators, whose blunders short sellers frequently reveal by discovering fraud that escaped their attention, respond similarly. That combination of interests helps explain why, at various times, short selling has been banned in many countries, including England, France and Japan.Such views are reinforced by accusations that short sellers hope...

Philadelphia attorney Philip J. Berg has sought court approval to amend his complaint in a lawsuit styled Berg v. Obama. The amended complaint would add the Pennsylvania Department of State, the Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A. Cortes (in his official capacity), the U. S. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and Senator Diane Feinstein (in her official capacity as chairman) for their failure to exercise due diligence with respect to Barack Hussein Obama's constitutional qualifications to be elected and serve as President of The United States, and for his inclusion on the ballot in Pennsylvania as a candidate for...

This morning, Philadelphia attorney Philip Berg filed a response in opposition to the motion for protective order, a measure intended to stay discovery until after the judge rules on a defense motion to dismiss, filed by Barack Obama and the DNC on Monday. In the response Berg insists, among other things, that he is not seeking the documents specified in his motion for expedited discovery for any improper purpose, that the information requested through discovery is of extreme importance and a matter of public safety, and argues that Barack Obama and the DNC

Berg is “Outraged” that Obama & DNC Hide Again Behind Legal Issues as their attorney files a Motion for Protective Order to “not” Answer Admissions & Production of Documents while Betraying Public in not Producing Documents proving Obama is “qualified” to be a candidate for President. It is believed Obama is an “illegal alien” For Immediate Release: - 10/06/08 (Contact info and pdf of press release below) Country is Headed to a Constitutional Crisis (Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania – 10/06/08) - Philip J. Berg, Esquire, the Attorney who filed suit against Barack H. Obama challenging Senator Obama’s lack of “qualifications” to...

TWO FILINGS: Berg Files Motion for Leave to File Amended Complaint, Obama and DNC File Motion to Delay Discovery Until Judge Decides on Prior Motion to Dismiss It was a busy day in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania today. First, attorney Philip Berg files a motion asking the court to permit him to file an amended complaint with several additions, and then next, attorneys for Barack Obama and the DNC file a motion asking the court for a protective order, essentially asking that the judge rule on their motion to dismiss for lack of standing before ruling on Berg's motion...

Phil J. Berg filed an amended complaint today in Berg v. Obama. The amended complaint adds the Pennsylvania Department of State, the Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro A. Cortes (in his official capacity), the U. S. Sentate Committee on Rules and Administration, and Senator Diane Feinstein (in her official capacity as chairman) for their failure to exercise due diligence with respect to Barack Obama's contitutional qualifications to be elected and serve as President of The United States, and for his inclusion on the ballot in Pennsylvania as a candidate for President of the United States. The amended complaint also bolsters...

This morning, prominent Philadelphia attorney and former Deputy Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Philip Berg filed a Motion for Leave to File an Amended Complaint in his ongoing case against Illinois Sen. Barack Obama and others, arguing that Obama is in fact not a natural born United States citizen and, pursuant to Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution is ineligible to serve as president of the United States of America. Now, this does not mean that the amended complaint has been filed. Rule 15(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure permits amendments by leave of...

The Republican National Committee wants the Federal Election Commission to investigate the source of thousands of small contributions to the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, a committee lawyer said yesterday. The RNC's chief counsel, Sean Cairncross, said that there is mounting evidence that the Obama campaign was so hungry for donations it "looked the other way" as contributions piled up from suspicious donors, and possibly even from overseas, which would be illegal. "We believe that the American people should know first and foremost if foreign money is pouring into a presidential election," Cairncross said. He pointed to a report...

The OBAMA Fix Is On-And the Media is Part of It If Senator Barack Obama was a Republican, the mainstream media would be all over him like a glove, they would be checking out how ACORN was trying to steal the election for Obama. If Obama was a Republican, the media would be going through his foreign donations, they would see that Senator Obama may have received MORE THAN $200 MILLION in illegal donations including millions overseas campaign donations. They would be asking why the FEC wasn't listening to its investigator who requested a full-fledged investigation of Obama's finances. But...

The Republican national committee (RNC) said Mr Obama had accepted contributions from foreigners and taken more than the $2,300 maximum from donors who give in small amounts. RNC officials want the Federal Election Commission to examine Mr Obama's records in detail to determine the extent of the problem. An Obama campaign spokesman denied the charges. Bill Burton said: "Our campaign has shattered fund-raising records with donations from more than 2.5 million Americans. We have gone above and beyond the transparency requirement." Democrats are viewing the Republican claim as the latest example of a smear campaign against Mr Obama. On Saturday,...

The Obama campaign has shattered all fund-raising records, raking in $458 million so far, with about half the bounty coming from donors who contribute $200 or less. Aides say that's an illustration of a truly democratic campaign. To critics, though, it can be an invitation for fraud and illegal foreign cash because donors giving individual sums of $200 or less don't have to be publicly reported. Consider the cases of Obama donors "Doodad Pro" of Nunda, N.Y., who gave $17,130, and "Good Will" of Austin, Texas, who gave more than $11,000—both in excess of the $2,300-per-person federal limit.

I have been monitoring the donation data at the FEC website that the Obama for America campaign has submitted. Contrary to what the Obama campaign claims, they did NOT "rout out" or "refund" donations they received from the Edwan brothers (Hosam, Monir and Osama) of the Rafah Refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. OBAMA LIED: "Palestinian" Campaign Contributions NEVER RETURNED OR REFUNDED In the latest filing (9/20 for the month of August, 2008), it is apparent that the campaign has PURGED the database of most of the donations from the Edwan brothers. Edwan Brothers Transaction Analysis at Google Docs Another...

Obama doesn't weed out illegal cash, GOP says Sun Oct 5, 2008 5:15pm EDT By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican Party on Sunday said Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama had not done enough to screen out illegal campaign contributions and asked U.S. election officials to look into the matter. Citing news reports, the Republican National Committee said Obama had accepted contributions from foreigners and taken more than the $2,300 maximum from donors who give in small increments. The Obama campaign denied the charges. The RNC said it will ask the Federal Election Commission to examine Obama records in...

Let's see where this goes...

A lawyer for the Republican National Committee today said the party will ask the Federal Election Commission to look into the source of thousands of small-dollar contributions to the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama. The RNC is alleging that the Obama campaign was so hungry for donations it "looked the other way" as contributions piled up from suspicious, and possibly even illegal foreign donors. "We believe that the American people should know first and foremost if foreign money is pouring into a presidential election," said RNC Chief Counsel Sean Cairncross. Cairncross alleged there was mounting evidence of this, and...

WHO is "Will, Good"? Mr. Good Will - who lists his employer as "Loving" and his profession as "You" - has contributed 1,000 times to the Barack Obama campaign. All the contributions have been in amounts of $25 or less. But they add up to $17,375 - far more than the legal limit of $4,600. That's $2,300 each for the primary and general election campaigns. Kenneth Timmerman, a reporter for NewsMax, a conservative Web site, discovered Mr. Good Will when he reviewed 1.4 million individual contributions in the latest Federal Elections Commission master file for the Obama campaign. Mr. Good...

PRESS RELEASE October 3, 2008 Contact: James Bopp, Jr. Cell Phone 812/243-0825; Phone 812/232-2434; Fax 812/235-3685; jboppjr@aol.comCommittee for Truth in Politics Seek Preliminary Injunction Today, the Committee for Truth in Politics, Inc. (“CTP”) filed suit to protect it from FEC investigation and enforcement action for running an ad, titled Basic Rights, which qualifies as an “electioneering communication” under federal election law, but cannot be regulated because it is protected by the “appeal-to-vote” test announce by Chief Justice Roberts in the 2007 decision of Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life ("WRTL II"). The text of the ad is as...

Following the controversy over the authenticity of Barack Obama's birth certificate can be a bit confusing with all its detailed analysis. Your humble correspondent will leave that up to the experts. However, in response to the charge that Barack Obama is not an American citizen, Obama's Fight the Smears website, quoting FactCheck.Org, has made a bombshell admission...Barack Obama was once a citizen of Kenya. You read that right, Obama had Kenyan citizenship until 1982. Here is the startling admission published in Fight the Smears (emphasis mine): “When Barack Obama Jr. was born on Aug. 4,1961, in Honolulu, Kenya was a...

I'm writing this brief post to put into perspective what it all means when Obama cannot (rather refuses to) release his genuine birth certificate to put all rumors to rest. The time for surprizes has long past. Obama is not going to magically produce it, saying "Gotcha," because that would have been done in response to Berg's suit. You can take this to the bank, that when Obama is forced show his "vault" long-form birth certificate, the whole world will know that the COLB image was a forgery from Day One, as well as the phony FactCheck photos. BUT, now...

Berg Filed an Answer Sept. 29th, 2008 (Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania – 09/29/08) - Philip J. Berg, Esquire, the Attorney who filed suit against Barack H. Obama challenging Senator Obama’s lack of “qualifications” to serve as President of the United States, announced today that he filed his Opposition and Brief to Obama and Democratic National Committee [DNC] Joint Motion to Dismiss in the case of Berg v. Obama, No. 08-cv-04083. Berg feels confident that he has “Standing” and the Court will allow the case to go forward. Our response was due in 14 days, but the Court requested our answer by...

Just how much in donations from foreign countries is pouring into the Obama campaign coffers is a question one FEC auditor would like to have answered. The problem is that evidently, his bosses at the FEC are refusing to move on the charges which would almost certainly require them to ask the Justice Department and the FBI to look into the matter. This would, their reasoning goes, take on the appearance of a "criminal investigation" and would impact the coming election. The anonymous investigator (who won't reveal his name for fear of retribution) says that "I can't get anyone to...

The donation scandal is oof the rails and the left is so in the tank for uh uh uhbama, there is no accountability. It's sick. Here's an illegal donation for you: (hat tip the ever intrepid Cathy) YS Jagan Mohan Reddy - Indian National donated $500 City: SCH?NECK Occupation: IS IT Employer: NESTL? GLOBE CENTER EUROPE Here's his home page: "Son of chief minister of Andhrapradesh, an industrialist, leader of youth in Andhrapradesh, a deciplined social worker who worked for the development of youth by setting up industries, serving the aged,orphans and widows by means of charitable trusts has become...

More than half of the whopping $426.9 million Barack Obama has raised has come from small donors whose names the Obama campaign won't disclose. And questions have arisen about millions more in foreign donations the Obama campaign has received that apparently have not been vetted as legitimate. But because of Obama’s high expenses during the hotly contested Democratic primary season and an early decision to forgo public campaign money and the spending limits it imposes, all that cash has not translated into a financial advantage — at least, not yet. The Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee began September...

Monday, September 29, 2008 9:23 PM More than half of the whopping $426.9 million Barack Obama has raised has come from small donors whose names the Obama campaign won't disclose. And questions have arisen about millions more in foreign donations the Obama campaign has received that apparently have not been vetted as legitimate. Obama has raised nearly twice that of John McCain's campaign, according to new campaign finance report. But because of Obama’s high expenses during the hotly contested Democratic primary season and an early decision to forgo public campaign money and the spending limits it imposes, all that cash...

More than half of the whopping $426.9 million Barack Obama has raised has come from small donors whose names the Obama campaign won't disclose. And questions have arisen about millions more in foreign donations the Obama campaign has received that apparently have not been vetted as legitimate. Obama has raised nearly twice that of John McCain's campaign, according to new campaign finance report. But because of Obama�s high expenses during the hotly contested Democratic primary season and an early decision to forgo public campaign money and the spending limits it imposes, all that cash has not translated into a financial...

Mr. "Good Will," apparently. My pal Diana West points me to Ken Timmerman's must-read Newsmax column — which naturally is getting no coverage in the MSM — about Sen. Obama's eye-popping fundraising operation. Bottom line: the would-be President of the World is raising goo-gobs of money from foreigners outside the United States (a violation of federal law), and matching goo-gobs of money inside the United States from phantoms who are blowing out the individual contribution limits by, among other devices, making up identies and breaking up contributions in amounts less than $200, for which reporting requirements are less rigorous. According...

More than half of the whopping $426.9 million Barack Obama has raised has come from small donors whose names the Obama campaign won't disclose. And questions have arisen about millions more in foreign donations the Obama campaign has received that apparently have not been vetted as legitimate. Obama has raised nearly twice that of John McCain's campaign, according to new campaign finance report -snip- And then there are the overseas donations — at least, the ones that we know about. The FEC has compiled a separate database of potentially questionable overseas donations that contains more than 11,500 contributions totaling $33.8...

FUNNY MONEY An auditor for the Federal Election Commission is attempting to have his bosses seek a formal investigation into the collection by the Obama for President campaign of more than $200 million in potentially illegal political donations, including millions of dollars of illegal, foreign donations, and has sought a request for assistance from the Department of Justice or Federal Bureau of Investigation. But the analyst's requests have largely been ignored. "I can't get anyone to move. I believe we are looking at a hijacking of our political system that makes the Clinton and Gore fundraising scandals pale in comparison....

FUNNY MONEYAn auditor for the Federal Election Commission is attempting to have his bosses seek a formal investigation into the collection by the Obama for President campaign of more than $200 million in potentially illegal political donations, including millions of dollars of illegal, foreign donations, and has sought a request for assistance from the Department of Justice or Federal Bureau of Investigation. But the analyst's requests have largely been ignored. "I can't get anyone to move. I believe we are looking at a hijacking of our political system that makes the Clinton and Gore fundraising scandals pale in comparison. And...

On defendant's Barack Hussein Obama and the Democratic National Committee's Motion to Dismiss Plaintifs Complaint.........Denied........... Order of this Court that the following discovery is to be turned over to Plaintiff within 3 days 1. Obama's "vault"version (certified copy of his original long version Birth Certificate and 2. A certified copy of Obama's Certification of Citizenship 3. A Certified Copy of Obama's Oath of Allegiance Filed September 29, 2008