Dear Maricopa County taxpayers, you're currently funding a trip to Hawaii for one of Sheriff Joe Arpaio's deputies so he can help hunt for President Obama's birth certificate or something.
Yes, the investigation that was billed as being at "no cost to taxpayers" happens to have some cost to taxpayers.
According to what Arpaio told conspiracy theorist/alleged "special deputy" Jerome Corsi, the "birther" brigade is "with an MCSO deputy detective for safety reasons and to act as a liaison between MCSO and local law enforcement."
According to the Arizona Republic, Arpaio gave them the "so what?" line about sending a deputy on a friggin' trip to Hawaii, with Arpaio adding that "sometimes things change."
The Republic goes on, "The Sheriff's Office also had to cover the costs of airfare and hotel rooms for the deputy and Zullo," although Arpaio claims he "expects" the posse to pay back MCSO.
Corsi, not surprisingly, says he's "embedded with the investigators in Hawaii," and we'll bet you a shiny nickel that his story about not getting anyone in the Hawaiian government to give him jack shit will turn into a tale about the government hiding things from him.
Corsi also justifies the trip on the "WorldNetDaily" website with Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett's efforts to verify the president's birth certificate.
According to the Hawaii Department of the Attorney General, Bennett hasn't been trying that hard, seeing as the Attorney General's office said Bennett's had about three months to provide a "legitimate" reason for needing verification of the birth certificate.
Since funds at the Sheriff's Office seem to just be burning a hole in Arpaio's pocket, we respectfully request that the deputy bring back some of these for all of us -- ya know, evidence and whatnot:
