ADVERTISEMENT Unrest in Tennessee: House GOP chairman joins suit to overturn Obama's presidency John Byrne

Published: Friday February 13, 2009





Print This Email This Democrats say GOP congressman joining suit is 'from Mars' A Supreme Court decision apparently isn't enough for Tennessee lawmakers in the House.



Despite the fact that the Court rejected an effort to contest President Barack Obama's citizenship in a case earlier this year, four Tennessee lawmakers are still pushing a legal action to force the president to turn over his birth certificate and other documents to prove his citizenship.



It also comes after Obama posted a copy of his birth certificate on his campaign website.



Tennessee Republican congressmembers Eric Swafford, Stacey Campfield, Glen Casada and Frank Niceley have agreed to join a Russian immigrant in California's case against Obama -- which contends he's not eligible to be president, the Tennessean's Theo Emery reported Friday . Casada is the chairman of the House Republican caucus.



Ironically, the House chairman said his action was intended to quell discussion on the issue.



"Let's just put this to bed," Casada told Emery. "Yes, people may say, you're just chasing some conspiracy theory. It's a simple act on his part to just do, and we're done  move on."



The Defend Our Freedoms Foundation hasn't yet filed the suit, Emery adds.



"I agree to be one of the plaintiff's in a legal action filed by Dr. Orly Taitz, Esquire for a Writ of Mandamus to obtain birth certificate, immigration records, passports and other vital records for Barry Soetoro, aka Barack Hussein Obama," Rep. Eric Swafford said in a letter written on official House stationery.



Adds Emery: "Democratic lawmakers ridiculed the action Thursday at a weekly press conference, with one lawmaker asking, 'Who's Eric Swafford?' and another answering, 'He's from Mars.'"



Smear campaigns were launched against the then-presidential hopeful last August which alleged then-candidate Obama was not a natural born US citizen.



But a non-profit, national fact-checking organization concluded that "Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said" and an official from the Hawaii Health Department called speculation on his citizenship "pretty ridiculous."









