Bill Hunt, a candidate for Orange County sheriff, may have spoken at the same event as Orly Taitz on Tuesday–but that, he says, does not mean he agrees with her. Nor should we read too much into the fact that Taitz has posted pro-Hunt messages on her blog.
“I have a lot of supporters and I'm grateful for all of them,” he told us over the phone. “Whatever Orly Taitz's beliefs are on this Barack Obama's birth certificate, that's not my issue.”
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Below is his full e-mailed response to the questions we sent him
yesterday, after wondering where he stands on issues of “eligibility.”
Thanks for you inquiry. I am running for Orange County Sheriff and
that is where my focus lies. There are a significant number of
pressing issues I am much more concerned about at the moment such as
protecting our Constitutional rights, stopping the blanket policy of
citing and releasing misdemeanor arrestees when there are more than
1000 empty beds a day in our jails and stopping the practice of
releasing convicted criminals back into our community before they
complete their sentences to name but a few. While I am aware of the
controversy over the “birhter” issue, I haven't done enough research to
arrive at any type of conclusion on the subject. Personally, I find it
hard to believe that if there was anything to this that the Clinton
campaign wouldn't have exposed it in the Democratic Primary election
and have expressed as much to Dr. Taitz.
As for Damon Dunn, the Irvine Republican running for California secretary of state–a job that Taitz herself now wants–we asked him yesterday for his thoughts about Taitz's supposed entry into the race and her bashing of him on her blog. Apparently, he only wanted to respond to Taitz's charge that he's a “Republican in name only” for failing to espouse birther beliefs. Here's the statement we were sent:
Republican leaders past and present including former US Secretary of State under President Reagan, George Schultz, Governor Pete Wilson, Former Senate and Assembly Leader Jim Brulte, former CRA president Mike Spence, Senate Republican Leader Dennis Hollingsworth, congressional leaders like McCarty and Nunes, and numerous other state, county and city leaders have endorsed my campaign. We remain focused on ensuring for honest elections and fighting for jobs.
