White House admits lying about Obama meeting Kenyan uncle

[Spiraling Leopard]

http://www.examiner.com/article/white-house-admits-lying-about-obama-meeting-kenyan-uncle



On Thursday, the White House admitted it fabricated a story that claimed Barack Obama never met his Kenyan uncle, Onyango “Omar” Obama, the Daily Caller reported, citing an article at the Boston Globe.

Some time ago, the elder Obama was fighting deportation after a 2011 DUI charge.

In January 2012, the Boston Globe said, the White House asserted Omar "never met his famous nephew."

But it turns out that statement was untrue.

Now, the Globe said, Obama admitted he lived with his uncle for a short time in the 1980s while preparing to attend Harvard Law School.

The Globe added:

    “The president first met Omar Obama when he moved to Cambridge for law school,” said White House spokesman Eric Schultz. “The president did stay with him for a brief period of time until his apartment was ready. After that, they saw each other once every few months, but after law school they fell out of touch. The president has not seen him in 20 years, has not spoken with him in 10.”

The White House claims the error was the result of failing to personally ask Obama whether he had ever met or lived with his uncle.

A White House official also said the press office had not fully researched the relationship between Obama and his uncle before telling the Globe they had no record of any meeting between the two.

"The relationship is important because reporters have been investigating whether anyone at the White House has payed attention to or interceded in Uncle Omar’s immigration battles," Daily Caller Managing Editor Vince Coglianese wrote.

The White House also maintains Omar's case was free from “any interference from the president or the White House,” the Globe said.

According to the Globe, Omar had lived in the United States illegally since the 1970s, and recently testified at his immigration hearing that Barack lived with him for about three weeks.

"The White House never moved to correct the record," the Globe added, "until the president’s famously private uncle took the witness stand in Boston immigration court two days ago."

Judge Leonard I. Shapiro granted Omar legal residency based on his character and federal law.

The revelation -- coming as it does on heels of reports that Obama repeatedly lied about Americans being able to keep their health insurance, and his lie about that lie -- will certainly not help his standing in the polls.

In late November, Talking Points Memo reported that 53 percent said they do not believe Obama is honest and trustworthy, citing a CNN/ORC International poll.