Michele Bachmann: Swiss citizen since 1978

Michele Bachmann: Swiss citizen since 1978

By TIM MAK | 5/10/12 12:23  AM EDT

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.

“It wasn’t necessary to disclose, because she is an American citizen and  always has been. She has a United States birth certificate and a United States  passport,” Bachmann spokesperson Becky Rogness told POLITICO on Wedneday  evening.

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’s broad conception of citizenship aside, she stressed in her  statement that she has “always pledged allegiance” to the United States.

“I am proud of my husband, Marcus, the love of my life, and his Swiss  heritage. Even though I have been a dual citizen since I was married in 1978, I  have never exercised any rights of that citizenship. Rather, I have always  pledged allegiance to our one nation under God, the United States of America. We  live in the greatest nation humankind has ever known and I am proud to be an  American,” Bachmann said.

POLITICO reported Tuesday that Michele Bachmann and her three youngest children  became Swiss citizens on March 19.

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.”

She was an entrant in this year’s Republican primary for president but  dropped out in January after sixth-place showing in Iowa.

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http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0512/76142.html