NEW YORK – The White House appears to have dropped a bombshell when it explained to the press why White House staff in Washington enrolled President Obama in Obamacare instead of Obama himself.

Officials said it was because HealthCare.gov could not verify Obama's identity.

Here is what Ed Henry, Fox News White House correspondent, reported on air:

"Somebody who's not waiting in line to enroll is the president of the United States. We learned today from the White House. Initially, they said he signed up for what they called a bronze plan, paying about four hundred dollars a month in premiums. But, then they came back to us and said – 'Well, wait. He didn't actually enroll. They said his staff did it and that's because of his unique circumstance obviously, as commander-in-chief, that his personal information is not in various government databases, so Healthcare.gov could not actually verify his identity, oddly enough. So, he had to do it in person this weekend, so he was signing up for the D.C. exchange, but his staff did it."

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A CBS report in Washington, likewise, explained White House staff had to go to an "in-person" Obamacare site to sign up Obama for coverage.

The Fox News report, noted by the Gateway Pundit, set off a round of speculation on the Internet.

What information was so sensitive for Obama that it had to be excluded from government databases?

Clearly, the information was not his Social Security Number or his birth records, because the White House has claimed to have made public both.

On May 5, 2010, WND published a report documenting that WND researchers were able to find, through an ordinary search of the Social Security database online, the Social Security Number Obama has been using.

In the same article, WND also reported Obama was using a Social Security Number set aside by the Social Security Administration for applicants with addresses in Connecticut. Public records, meanwhile, provide no evidence Obama ever had an address in the state.

On April 27, 2011, the White House released a form the White House claimed was Obama's long-form birth certificate, making public Obama's date and place of birth.

The White House also releases annually on a timely basis the income tax returns for Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, with the Social Security Numbers missing. Yet for the purpose of filing the IRS return, there appears to be no exception allowing the president or the vice president to omit their Social Security Numbers.

The Healthcare.gov website says the only information required for applying for health-care coverage on the government exchange is a Social Security Number, employer and income verification, and the policy numbers of any current health-insurance plans.

As indicated above, WND reported after Obama took the oath of office that the Social Security Number he currently is using could be found through a public search on the Social Security website.

None of the other information required, as seen on the above Healthcare.gov "Marketplace Application Checklist," appears to be information that would be included in a government database for any U.S. citizen prior to applying for health insurance.

While the policy numbers of existing health-insurance plans covering members of the household would be protected for all citizens under various state and federal privacy statutes, the information does not appear to reach the threshold where national-security concerns would require keeping the information secret for the commander in chief under a national-security classification.

E-Verify 'flagged' Obama SSN

On Sept. 12, 2011, WND reported the Social Security Number being used by Obama did not pass a check with E-Verify, the electronic system the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security created to verify whether or not prospective employees have the required authorization to work legally in the United States.

In that article, WND published the "Self-Check" page from E-Verify that clearly listed a "Notice of Mismatch with Social Security Administration (SSA) Records."

As seen below, Obama's Social Security Number produced a mismatch that warranted a visit to the Social Security Administration to investigate the discrepancy.

The checked reason for the mismatch notice was: "SSA record does not verify. Other reason. SSA found a discrepancy in the record."

The graphic below shows a Social Security Administration website page that indicates the response "SSA record does not verify, other reason" is to be interpreted as "Special indicator present," with the reference to three E-Verify sections.

Further research revealed that the SSA adds "Special Indicator codes" to identify Social Security numbers that individuals obtained fraudulently.

According to an audit report authored by the Office of the Inspector General, Social Security Administration, titled "Effectiveness of Special Indicator Codes on the Social Security Administrations Numident File," dated August 2008, there were nine special indicator codes as of November 2008:

False Identity Noncitizen Not in Status Multiple SSNs with Different Identities Scrambled Earnings with New SSN Assigned SSN Obtained Using Fraudulent Documentation SSN Assignment Based on Harassment/Abuse/Life Endangerment Fictitious Identity Fraud – OIG Investigated Fraud SSN Misuse

WND obtained a copy of an affidavit from Linda Jordan, a private citizen who entered Obama's Social Security Number into the "Self Check" section of the E-Verify website and found it to be flagged as likely being fraudulent.

"Eight of the Special Indicators have to do with fraud of some kind," Jordan said. "It looks to me like the SSN Obama is using has been flagged with a Special Indicator suggesting fraud."

WND's request for comment in September 2011 to the media office of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security went unanswered.

Whose Social Security Number is Obama using?

As seen below, U.S. Air Force Col. Gregory Hollister, retired, obtained from the Social Security Administration verification that the Social Security Number currently being used by Obama is a number that was never issued to him.

Yet, WND has independently verified that Obama is using the Social Security Number in question.

As seen below, WND confirmed in an article published Feb. 2, 2011, that Obama's Social Security Number links to Obama in the online records maintained by the Selective Service system. Inserting Obama's Social Security Number into the online Selective Service search engine produces a valid Selective Service Number identified with Obama.

On Nov. 30, 2010, WND reported that the Social Security Administration has decided to randomize all future Social Security Numbers issued, beginning on or about June 25, 2011, in a move that will eliminate state-specific assignment of the Social Security Numbers.