Was the CCP Birth Certificate Investigation Pay to Play?

Zullo behind bars?

Morgan Loew, an investigative reporter for Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO-TV, presented a devastating piece last night on Mike Zullo and the sham Cold Case Posse investigation into President Obama’s long form birth certificate. The segment included an interview with Brian Reilly, the person who first presented the idea for the investigation  to Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Brian’s wife Denise Reilly.

The Reillys repeated many of the allegations against Zullo that Brian had previously related when he has called RC Radio. The most interesting and troublesome new allegation in the report was that a Birther litigant from New Jersey, William Wolf, had written a personal check for $10,000 to Mike Zullo. According to Morgan Loew the late Mr. Wolf had supplied a “dossier of evidence” to Zullo and the CCP to help the investigation. Zullo had previous denied had had

Wolf at the time of the donation also was suing the Hawaii DoH to obtain a copy of President Obama’s long form birth certificate. The case was Wolf v Fuddy. All the case documents are available at Jack Ryan’s SCRIBD page here and here. Mr. Wolf lost the case and also was denied on appeal. The courts ruled he was not entitled to receive a certified copy of the President or any one else’s birth records under the Hawaii open records laws. Wolf is notable in that he was one of the few Birther litigants to actually hire a real law firm for his case.

These two video’s of Morgan Loew’s segment are available on the KPHO web site:

Birther posse chief: I accepted $10,000 from source and Former posse members expose birther investigation

The revelations that Mike Zullo personally profited at least $11,500 from the CCP investigation are startling to say the least and may cross the line of illegality. (Mike Zullo previously admitted that he received checks that amounted to approximately $1500 from the sale of an eBook version of the Cold Case Posse interim report on Amazon).  Zullo also told Brian Reilly that before he left the Posse that over $80,000 had been raised. We don’t know what happened to any of that money. We don’t know how much has been donated since then and donations are still being actively solicited even now. (See below)

These revelations  beg the question: was the Cold Case Posse investigation pay to play? Was the way to get your evidence or your point of view  included to grease the palms of Mr. Zullo?

Zullo responded to Morgan Loew’s request for a comment only after he was confronted with evidence of the $10,000 check. Zullo acknowledged that he had received the money but claimed that it was a personal gift from Mr. Wolf. Does Mr. Zullo want us to believe Wolf would just happen to give $10,000 to a used car dealer in Cave Creek, AZ?

Was the direction the investigation went determined by money and politics? Or was it about getting to the truth as both Arpaio and Zullo have claimed? Most importantly, how could Zullo impartially and objectively examine any evidence provided by Wolf  after being given a $10,000 “gift”?

This might explain why the CCP has consistently refused to look at evidence that contradicted the conclusion they seemed destined to reach. It would explain why the Posse refused to talk to author of Was Barack Obama’s Birth Certificate a Fraud?, John Woodman. The CCP also refused to acknowledge that evidence I and others presented that a simple work flow using a Xerox WorkCentre explains all the PDF file anomalies. I think I know why. The CCP never was and still is not conducting a real investigation. It is a political action designed to keep the Birther movement alive, fill Joe Arpaio’s campaign coffers, and benefit pretend law enforcement officer Mike Zullo.

Who else involved in the investigation was paid? How much? We know Zullo told Reilly “We need to find a way to get you paid”. This was one of the reasons that Reilly gave for leaving the Cold Case Posse. He was rightly concerned about the appearance of volunteers being paid to conduct a supposedly serious and impartial investigation.

Who else profited from the “investigation”? It is certain that Zullo’s co-author Jerome Corsi did. What about Mark Gillar who produced the video with the faked race codes and other videos used in both CCP news conferences? What about the discredited “researchers” like Mara Zebest, Garrett Papit, and Tim Selatey, Jr.? Did they profit?

They answer is we simply do not know. Why? Because despite the fact the Cold Case Posse is registered as a 501(c)(3) organization they have yet to file a single Form 990 with the IRS since incorporating. Zullo claims that the CCP is exempt because it is affiliated with the MCSO, a government agency.  However, the MCSO has stated that they have no oversight at all of CCP financial dealings. Dr. Conspiracy has written several articles about how the CCP wants to have it both ways to avoid disclosure of revenues and expenditures. He even filed a complaint with the IRS about the CCP’s lack of accountability  – Cold Case Posse referred to IRS for failure to file Form 990

Reporter Loew went to Mr. Zullo’s home with a camera crew and attempted to ask Zullo about why the Posse was the only such MCSO Posse not to file the required form 990.

This interesting exchange occurred:

Loew: You’re running a non profit and you won’t disclose how much money …Why won’t you tell us how much money this nonprofit has made?

Zullo: I just don’t have to.

Loew: But what’s wrong with full disclosure?

Zullo: There’s absolutely nothing wrong with full disclosure. It’s just that I don’t have to.

I suppose full disclosure and accountability are just not your style are they Mr. Zullo? Nope, those are for the little people.

We hope Mr. Loew follows up on his efforts to “follow the money” at the CCP. I will reach out to Mr. Zullo to appear with Brian Reilly on a future episode of RC Radio to address the allegations in Mr. Loew’s report.

[Edited 11/1/2914]