Michele Bachmann: Swiss Citizen Since 1978

The ever insane and modern day Pharisee Michele Bachmann likes to question Barack Obama's citizenship and eligibility to hold the office of president, yet Ms. Bachmann has some citizenship issues of her own.  Such as her own Swiss citizenship that has apparently existed for 34 years.  If she wants to hold herself out as uber-American patriot, perhaps she should relinquish her own foreign citizenship.  That, course, would mean not being a hypocrite, so don't expect to see that happen anytime soon unless Bachmann is pressured by the Kool-Aid drinking GOP base.  Politico looks at Ms. Bachmann's heretofore undisclosed Swiss citizenship.  Here are highlights: 

Rep. Michele Bachmann tried to downplay her dual U.S.-Swiss citizenship Wednesday, releasing a statement that asserts she has actually been a dual citizen since 1978.  “I automatically became a dual citizen of the United States and Switzerland in 1978 when I married my husband, Marcus. Marcus is a dual American and Swiss citizen because he is the son of Swiss immigrants. As a family, we just recently updated our documents,” the Minnesota Republican and former presidential candidate said in a statement. “This is a non-story.”

According to her version of events, Bachmann has known she was a Swiss citizen for approximately 34 years. However, she never disclosed her citizenship while running for Congress and president of the United States.  Her office said that such a disclosure was not necessary.

Her statement that she has been a citizen since 1978 is based off a technicality - at the time of her marriage, automatic citizenship was granted to those who married Swiss citizens. However, Marcus Bachmann, her husband, did not register their marriage with Swiss authorities until this year - meaning that the Swiss government was not aware of it until recently.

Bachmann, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, is now running for reelection in Minnesota’s 6^th Congressional District.  “This is simply another distraction,” said a spokesperson for Democratic challenger Jim Graves on Wednesday. “The Graves family is not interested in dual citizenship and they are proud to be Americans.”