Sheriff Joe: Obama Birth Certificate Probably Fake

Birtherism appears to be alive and well in Maricopa County, Arizona, where self-styled "America's Toughest Sheriff" Joe Arpaio has released the results of his investigation into President Obama's birth certificate, reports ABC. The probe found "probable cause exists indicating that forgery and fraud may have been committed" with the President's long-form birth certificate, and "more disturbing evidence suggests that another fraud may have been committed regarding his selected service registration card," Arpaio told reporters.

Arpaio's "posse" of volunteer investigators "believe that the long-form birth certificate was manufactured electronically, and that it did not originate in a paper format as claimed by the White House," says the sheriff, whom some accuse of pandering to Tea Party voters and attempting to deflect attention from his own legal troubles. In a sign of how seriously the Obama administration is taking the allegations, the Obama campaign's press secretary said he was tweeting a link to the live feed of Arpaio's announcement, but actually posted a link that led to video of the opening credits of the X-Files. (More Joe Arpaio stories.)