Deal’s letter to Obama makes him birther movement hero

Nathan Deal: Man of his word.

Last November, the Georgia congressman and 2010 GOP gubernatorial candidate said he planned to ask President Barack Obama for a copy of his birth certificate so all this birther nonsense could be resolved once and for all. Deal told the AJC’s Bob Keefe: “I have looked at the documentation that is publicly available and it leaves many things to be desired.”

Well, after several unreturned phone calls to Deal’s campaign HQ and congressional office before the holidays, we can now report that the lawmaker kept his word. Kind of.

In December, Deal Chief of Staff Todd Smith says, the congressman did indeed send Obama a letter that addresses constituents’ concerns about the president’s birth certificate, which Smith says the White House then acknowledged. However, Smith says, Deal didn’t request Obama’s birth certificate — the letter was about the hubbub surrounding the document’s authenticity.