Busted? The 'Birth Certificate' Donald Trump Produced Isn't Official

In another place at another time with another person this might not be a big story. But considering Donald Trump's latest birth certificate crusade, this is interesting.

Last week and over the weekend, Donald Trump made a big deal about the president releasing his birth certificate. He suggested that since Obama won't, there could be something to hide. And while challenging the president, Trump decided he would release hisown birth certificate, perhaps to set an example. So he did. But guess what -- it's not really his official birth certificate.

(Watch Trump talk about Obama's birth certificate on "The View.")

On Monday, Trump released what he said was his birth certificate to Newsmax. And for the most part, it looks like what a birth certificate should look like:

But shortly after its release, some people started questioning it. Politico did some digging, and found that what Trump produced isn't an official document. Ben Smith reports:

The paper that Trump released says "Jamaica Hospital" on top and lists the date and time of what he says was his birth to "Mr. and Mrs. Fred C. Trump." The piece of paper has a seal at the bottom.

But after several New York City-based readers contacted POLITICO's Maggie Haberman, her call to city officials revealed that an actual birth certificate, which is issued by the Department of Health, would have the agency's seal and also a signature of the city registrar - neither of which the Trump document has. Officials said the city Health Department is the "sole issuing authority" of official birth certificates in New York, and that the document would clearly say so, and "city officials said it's not an official document."

It appears instead to be a hospital "certificate of birth," meaning the piece of paper the hospital gave to his family saying he was born. Such a document typically has the signature of the hospital administrator and the attending physician.

Just to be clear, the "Jamaica" on the document doesn't refer to the country, but rather to the section in the NYC borough of Queens. Trump's attorney did not respond to Politico when asked for a comment.

“The fact is they asked John McCain for his birth certificate,” Trump told "Fox & Friends" yesterday. “They’ve asked others for their birth certificate. They asked Bush for his birth certificate, by the way, I just found out over the weekend. And they would ask me for my birth certificate."

It seems even after yesterday "they" are still asking.