Sid Blumenthal: I didn't push Birtherism but I did ask reporters to look at how things Obama said were playing in Kenya

The email, which was dated March 17, 2008, and shared with POLITICO, reads: “Jim, on Kenya your person in the field might look into the impact there of Obama’s public comments about his father. I’m told by State Dept officials that Obama publicly derided his father on his visit there and that was regarded as embarrassing and crossing the line by Kenyans for whom respect for elders (especially the father, especially a Muslim father, in a patrilineal society) is considered sacrosanct. Sidney”

Asher says he also asked Bengali, after discussing the matter with Blumenthal, to look into “any connections between Obama and Raila Odinga, who had described himself as Obama’s cousin and would run for president of Kenya; and, second, possible relationships between Odinga and unspecified controversial Muslim groups.”

Asked about the email, Blumenthal would not clarify the nature of his interactions with Asher. But he wrote, “What you sent has nothing to do with birtherism at all. It is untrue I had anything to do with birtherism. Obama’s relationship with his father is at the heart of his memoir, ‘Dreams of My Father,’ and has been a commonplace subject of interest for everyone.”

Nor would Blumenthal say if he had discussed ties between Obama and Odinga with Asher. “I can say with certainty that I never trafficked in birtherism,” he repeated when asked.