Four Gibson Dunn Associates Represent McCain in Citizenship Suits

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Four Gibson Dunn Associates Represent McCain in Citizenship Suits

Posted Sep 19, 2008, 05:36 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Four associates at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C., have racked up a string of victories as they fight for John McCain’s right to be president.

The associates are volunteering their time to defend claims that McCain’s birth to a Navy officer in the Panama Canal Zone makes him ineligible under the Constitution to be president, the American Lawyer reports. Their latest win came on Tuesday when a federal judge in San Francisco said the plaintiff, an elector pledged to third-party candidate Alan Keyes, did not have standing to challenge McCain’s placement on the ballot. The judge also found that the case lacked merit.

Litigation associate Matthew McGill said during oral arguments that Congress should be allowed to decide the merits of McCain’s citizenship without judicial intervention, the story says. He and his fellow associates had noted that the Senate unanimously approved a resolution in April that affirmed McCain's citizenship.

"It's inconceivable to me that the framers of the Constitution could have intended to exclude a citizen from the office of president for no reason other than at the time of his birth, his parents were deployed overseas in the service of the nation," McGill told American Lawyer. "I mean, come on!"

The article identified the other associates on the team as Joshua Hess, Amir Tayrani and Aaron Lindstrom. Partner Theodore Olson, a former U.S. solicitor general, also lent his expertise to case.

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Posted by J.D. - 2 months, 3 days, 4 hours, 7 minutes ago

But what about Obama’s problems and citizenship lawsuit? The claims are as follows:

* Obama is not a “natural born” citizen. Obama lost his U.S. citizenship when his mother married an Indonesian citizen and relocated herself and Obama to Indonesia wherein Obama’s mother naturalized in Indonesia and Obama followed her naturalization, as he was a minor and in the custody of his mother.

* Obama claims he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961; however, has never given the name of the hospital he was born in; whereas Obama’s grandmother on his father’s side, half brother and half sister claim Obama was born in Kenya. Reports reflect Obama’s mother went to Kenya during her pregnancy; however, she was prevented from boarding a flight from Kenya to Hawaii at her late stage of pregnancy, which apparently was a normal restriction to avoid births during a flight. Stanley Ann Dunham (Obama) gave birth to Obama in Kenya, after which she flew to Hawaii and registered Obama’s birth.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2066207/posts
Posted by Fact Check Police - 2 months, 3 days, 3 hours, 21 minutes ago

To J.D. above,
Just because you write long paragraphs it doesn’t make your information any less factually flawed. Senator Obama’s birth certificate (Hawaii) has been released and is readily available—http://my.barackobama.com/page/invite/birthcert

Senator Obama is one of the best and brightest Americans we have. God help us if we pass on this opportunity to make him our President.
Posted by DCEsq - 2 months, 3 days, 2 hours, 34 minutes ago

Has anyone visited the link the first writer cited for his “factual” support? It is a lawsuit apparently filed against Obama by somebody named Berg (though there is no proof of filing). I got as far down as the claim that the Constitution prevents a president from holding dual citizenship and then I realized I was about to engage in a waste of time. I shudder to think that the person responsible for that post is the member of a bar somewhere in this country. The truth of Obama’s citizenship has already been established to a nearly-boring degree of certainy: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html. Can we move on with the issues, please? McCain’s citizenship itself is insignificant compared to the monumental horror represented by his promised policies and his decades-long record.
Posted by RL - 2 months, 3 days, 2 hours, 34 minutes ago

Also, here are links to other sites that provide support that Sen. Obama was born in the U.S.

http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/jun/27/obamas-birth-certificate-part-ii/
Posted by J.D. - 2 months, 3 days, 2 hours, 3 minutes ago

Ladies, gentlemen. Take a deep breath. I used the word “CLAIMS” for a reason. It is a former Penn. deputy attorney general (and Clinton supporter) who filed it. Does it have any merit? Who knows. I’m just giving you some info.

Do you not find it odd, however, that the ABA and other news organizations have given plenty of coverage to McCain’s citizenship status, but next to nothing about the Obama citizenship?

To #3, you state there is “no proof of filing.“ Perhaps if the media did a better job of covering the issue, you would see that there was a filing. Here are the only two papers to cover the lawsuit:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/28/lawsuit-questions-obamas-eligibility-for-office/

http://www.timesherald.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20089295&BRD=1672&PAG=461&dept_id=33380&rfi=6
Posted by AM - 2 months, 3 days, 1 hour, 32 minutes ago

JD, you cite the Washington Times and expect to have credibility. Please do not insult our intelligence.
Posted by J.D. - 2 months, 3 days, 30 minutes ago

Hey, AM, why don’t you find us an article on the lawsuit challenging Obama’s citizenship in the Washington Post? Or the NYTimes?

Oh that’s right. Those papers only covered McCain’s citizenship lawsuit. Don’t get mad at me about the fact that some papers only cover certain stories.

It sure is sad to see that “AM” and others are so joyfully arrogant about their ignorance and close-mindedness.

It’s sad how apoplectic some people get when given information that potentially challenges their leftist dogma.
Posted by D.C. Wells - 2 months, 2 days, 22 hours, 56 minutes ago

JD: Last June that famous lefty rag, the National Review, debunked the Obama birth myths: http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTgxZmIwNTg0OWVhMWJkODNmZjI4ZjY4Mjg2OWRmNzI=
Posted by J.D. - 2 months, 2 days, 21 hours, 24 minutes ago

^ Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, National Review simply refers to the claim of Obama’s foreign citizenship as “rather unlikely.“

I don’t think anyone would suggest that is equivalent to being “debunked.“

Maybe if the media focused on this with the same gusto they focused on McCain’s citizenship, we could finally get it resolved.

For Obama’s sake, it’d be better to have it happen now, rather than 2 weeks before the election.
Posted by Panama John - 1 month, 3 weeks, 5 days, 4 hours, 23 minutes ago

The very first Supreme Court Justice of the United States declared someone like John McCain ineligible for the nastionm executive -

Chief Justice Roberts will be “barred” from giving the Oath of Office for the very same reason as expressed in the Federalist Papers by “Publius”

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