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Obama aunt leak raises questions, as does timing
By: Carrie Budoff Brown
November 1, 2008 06:18 PM EST
HENDERSON, Nev. Barack Obama did not know a relative was living in the United States illegally for the past nearly four years prior to today's Associated Press report, "but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed," the campaign said Saturday in a statement.
The Democratic nominee last heard from Zeituni Onyango, who attended his swearing-in ceremony to the U.S. Senate in 2005 and is a half-sister of Obama's late father, two years ago, when she called to say she was in Boston, the campaign said. Campaign officials said they did not assist her in getting a tourist visa and had not known that she was living in America.
News of Onyango's legal status, which the AP confirmed through sources, including a federal law enforcement official, provided an unwelcome diversion for the Obama campaign during its final push toward Election Day and stoked suspicions among supporters of a political motive behind the timing of the leak.
The American people are pretty sensible, said Obama chief strategist David Axelrod, and I think they are pretty suspicious of things that are dumped in the marketplace 72 hours before a campaign, so I am not concerned about that.
Asked whether he was suggesting there were political motives from a Republican administration, Axelrod said: I am not saying anything at this point.
Obama did not respond to questions shouted at him by members of the traveling press corps as he exited Caesars Palace hotel here Saturday morning with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) at his side.
The Associated Press wrote that it confirmed the deportation case with two separate sources, one of them a federal law enforcement official. The information they made available is known to officials in the federal government, but the AP said it could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has written to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff requesting an immediate investigation of the leak, which he deemed "deplorable" and said "was not the first leak of law enforcement information apparently designed to influence the coming presidential election," referring to an ongoing investigation of voter fraud by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.
Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, would not comment on the leak or whether the agency was looking into it.
"ICE is prohibited from commenting on any individuals status or the status of any case, she said. I would also add that as a matter of practice, we don't discuss law enforcement operational details.
Given the timing, the case led to an unusual nationwide directive within ICE requiring that any deportations before Tuesday's election be approved at least at the level of the agency's regional directors, a U.S. law enforcement official told the AP.
John McCain seems to be staying far away from the issue, making no mention of Obamas family in his two Virginia appearances this morning. His press aides have also remained quiet, issuing no statement about her immigration status.
Obama met Onyango, 56, when he traveled to Africa as an adult, and she earned a mention in his 1995 memoir "Dreams From My Father," in which he referred to her as "Auntie Zeituni."
The campaign said Obama has seen Onyango several times over the years, including during a second trip to Kenya with his wife, Michelle. Onyango previously traveled to Chicago on a tourist visa at the Obamas' invitation about nine years ago before visiting friends on the East Coast and returning to Kenya, according to the campaign.
Axelrod said Obama did not have a close relationship to Onyango.
The campaign will return $265 in contributions that Onyango made to Obama, citing prohibitions against foreign nationals donating to American campaigns.
The Associated Press reported that Onyango had been instructed to leave the country four years ago by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from her native Kenya. Onyango is living in public housing in Boston.
Senior strategist Robert Gibbs shut down any line of questioning Thursday when news broke about Obama's relative, telling reporters, "I'm not going to get into it."
Reporters asked, "Why not?"
"I'm just not," Gibbs said.
Ben Smith and Lisa Lerer contributed to this story.
© 2008 Capitol News Company, LLC
By: Carrie Budoff Brown
November 1, 2008 06:18 PM EST
HENDERSON, Nev. Barack Obama did not know a relative was living in the United States illegally for the past nearly four years prior to today's Associated Press report, "but obviously believes that any and all appropriate laws be followed," the campaign said Saturday in a statement.
The Democratic nominee last heard from Zeituni Onyango, who attended his swearing-in ceremony to the U.S. Senate in 2005 and is a half-sister of Obama's late father, two years ago, when she called to say she was in Boston, the campaign said. Campaign officials said they did not assist her in getting a tourist visa and had not known that she was living in America.
News of Onyango's legal status, which the AP confirmed through sources, including a federal law enforcement official, provided an unwelcome diversion for the Obama campaign during its final push toward Election Day and stoked suspicions among supporters of a political motive behind the timing of the leak.
The American people are pretty sensible, said Obama chief strategist David Axelrod, and I think they are pretty suspicious of things that are dumped in the marketplace 72 hours before a campaign, so I am not concerned about that.
Asked whether he was suggesting there were political motives from a Republican administration, Axelrod said: I am not saying anything at this point.
Obama did not respond to questions shouted at him by members of the traveling press corps as he exited Caesars Palace hotel here Saturday morning with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) at his side.
The Associated Press wrote that it confirmed the deportation case with two separate sources, one of them a federal law enforcement official. The information they made available is known to officials in the federal government, but the AP said it could not establish whether anyone at a political level in the Bush administration or in the McCain campaign had been involved in its release.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has written to Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff requesting an immediate investigation of the leak, which he deemed "deplorable" and said "was not the first leak of law enforcement information apparently designed to influence the coming presidential election," referring to an ongoing investigation of voter fraud by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.
Kelly Nantel, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, would not comment on the leak or whether the agency was looking into it.
"ICE is prohibited from commenting on any individuals status or the status of any case, she said. I would also add that as a matter of practice, we don't discuss law enforcement operational details.
Given the timing, the case led to an unusual nationwide directive within ICE requiring that any deportations before Tuesday's election be approved at least at the level of the agency's regional directors, a U.S. law enforcement official told the AP.
John McCain seems to be staying far away from the issue, making no mention of Obamas family in his two Virginia appearances this morning. His press aides have also remained quiet, issuing no statement about her immigration status.
Obama met Onyango, 56, when he traveled to Africa as an adult, and she earned a mention in his 1995 memoir "Dreams From My Father," in which he referred to her as "Auntie Zeituni."
The campaign said Obama has seen Onyango several times over the years, including during a second trip to Kenya with his wife, Michelle. Onyango previously traveled to Chicago on a tourist visa at the Obamas' invitation about nine years ago before visiting friends on the East Coast and returning to Kenya, according to the campaign.
Axelrod said Obama did not have a close relationship to Onyango.
The campaign will return $265 in contributions that Onyango made to Obama, citing prohibitions against foreign nationals donating to American campaigns.
The Associated Press reported that Onyango had been instructed to leave the country four years ago by an immigration judge who rejected her request for asylum from her native Kenya. Onyango is living in public housing in Boston.
Senior strategist Robert Gibbs shut down any line of questioning Thursday when news broke about Obama's relative, telling reporters, "I'm not going to get into it."
Reporters asked, "Why not?"
"I'm just not," Gibbs said.
Ben Smith and Lisa Lerer contributed to this story.
© 2008 Capitol News Company, LLC
