I brought you the story earlier this week of a press conference that had been called by ousted Maricopa County, AZ sheriff-and-birther, Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

For years, Arpaio has insisted that President Barack Obama’s birth certificate was a fake, and he has devoted his spotlight grabbing attempts efforts to rooting out proof.

The big reveal?

You guys were wrong. I was right. So there.

Arpaio and his aides announced that a five-year investigation had “proved” that Obama’s birth certificate from Hawaii in 1961 was a fake. An accompanying presentation highlighted what they called “9 points of forgery” on the document, which focused on the angles of date stamps, typed letters and words.

According to the theory, the birth certificate presented to the public was created after copying and pasting information from the legitimate birth certificate of a woman born in Hawaii.

It was an hour-long basking in the spotlight, and perhaps a last chance at relevancy, before fading into a long-overdue retirement for Sheriff Arpaio.

Mike Zullo, a posse member, talked throughout the bulk of the news conference, and for about 50 minutes walked the audience through what he claimed was irrefutable proof that the birth certificate had been forged.

The conference was attended by around 40 journalists and a few supporters of the birther movement, all nodding in agreement at key points.

There have been Arpaio-instigated press conferences over the years that all have the same theme: No actual proof, but lots of innuendo.

So, to recap: If you were waiting for that smoking gun, it wasn’t there. You’ll have to settle for Sheriff Arpaio’s word.

At least, that’s what he’s hoping.