Cuccinelli: 'I Absolutely Believe That President Obama Was Born In The United States'

Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R-VA) who was caught on an audio recording discussing possible Birther legal strategies against President Obama, has now released a statement that he does in fact believe Obama was born in the United States, and was just giving a hypothetical answer to a question about it.

"I absolutely believe that President Obama was born in the United States. I don't buy into the claims that he wasn't. On the recording, I was asked a hypothetical legal question, and I gave a hypothetical legal answer in response," Cuccinelli said in a press release this afternoon. "As I said previously, this issue was not a part of my campaign, and it is not part of what I am doing now as attorney general."

In an audio recording that was apparently made between early-November 2009 and mid-January 2010 -- after Cuccinelli was elected attorney general, and before he was sworn in -- Cuccinelli can be heard answering questions from an unidentified man about his position on Obama's birth certificate, and whether he would do anything about it as attorney general.

Cuccinelli speculated that somebody could oppose Obama by refusing to honor a law that Obama signed, and challenge the law by alleging that Obama was not eligible to be president. As for what role he himself might play: "Well, only if there is a conflict where we are suing the federal government for a law they've passed. So it's possible," said Cuccinelli.

Cuccinelli also explained on the audio that the burden would be on skeptics to prove that Obama was not born in the United States: How might we get proof, the man asked? "Well, that's a good question. Not one I've thought a lot about because it hasn't been part of my campaign," Cuccinelli replied. "Someone is going to have to come forward with nailed down testimony that he was born in place B, wherever that is. You know, the speculation is Kenya. And that doesn't seem beyond the realm of possibility."

Cuccinelli now appears to have gone from saying that the idea of Obama being born in Kenya "doesn't seem beyond the realm of possibility," to saying he "absolutely" believes that Obama was born in the United States, and that he doesn't buy into claims to the contrary.