President Trump has pardoned Joe Arpaio, the headline-grabbing former Phoenix-area sheriff whose crackdowns on undocumented immigrants led to a criminal contempt conviction last month.
In a statement Friday evening, the White House said that Arpaio, the ex-Maricopa County sheriff, is a “worthy candidate for a presidential pardon.”
Arpaio is known for publicity magnet initiatives such as making jail inmates wear pink, and for his enforcement of Arizona’s hotly disputed immigration law, but he also has TV connections.
In 2011, while a guest on Steven Seagal’s A&E reality show “Lawman,” he used a SWAT tank and other armored vehicles in a residential neighborhood to bust a man accused of cockfighting.
Last month, Arpaio was convicted of criminal contempt for violating a judge’s order to stop discriminatory policing tactics.
Trump hinted he would pardon Arpaio at a rally in Phoenix earlier this week, telling a boisterous crowd that he wouldn’t do it then because he didn’t want to cause any controversy.
“I’ll make a prediction,” Trump added. “I think he’s going to be just fine.”
Soon after Trump made his Phoenix remarks, the ACLU objected, tweeting: “President Trump should not pardon Joe Arpaio. #PhoenixRally #noarpaiopardon,” accompanied with a graphic that reads, “No, President Trump. Arpaio was not ‘just doing his job.’ He was violating the Constitution and discriminating against Latinos.”
“Today, President Donald J. Trump granted a Presidential pardon to Joe Arpaio, former Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. Arpaio’s life and career, which began at the age of 18 when he enlisted in the military after the outbreak of the Korean War, exemplify selfless public service. After serving in the Army, Arpaio became a police officer in Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas, NV and later served as a Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), formerly the Bureau of Narcotics. After 25 years of admirable service, Arpaio went on to lead the DEA’s branch in Arizona.
In 1992, the problems facing his community pulled Arpaio out of retirement to return to law enforcement. He ran and won a campaign to become Sheriff of Maricopa County. Throughout his time as Sheriff, Arpaio continued his life’s work of protecting the public from the scourges of crime and illegal immigration. Sheriff Joe Arpaio is now eighty-five years old, and after more than fifty years of admirable service to our Nation, he is worthy candidate for a Presidential pardon.”
Here's Everyone Who Dumped Trump This Week (Photos)
In the wake of Trump's response to a violent white supremacist rally, "Unite the Right," in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend, several business leaders, council members and media personalities severed ties with the president. Quite a lot actually.
Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich Plank and Krzanich both followed Frazier's lead in quitting the council, citing Trump's Charlottesville response. Trump tweeted condemnation of Frazier, who is black, but for some reason said nothing about these two.
WikiCommons
Alliance for American Manufacturing president Scott Paul Early Tuesday morning, Paul became the fourth CEO to quit the manufacturing jobs group, and yes, he cited Trump's response to Charlottesville as the reason.
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Trump Makes It Worse Tuesday afternoon, Trump shocked the country with an off-the-rails press conference at Trump Tower in which he appeared to defend and sympathize with the racist mob in Charlottesville. Trump insisted there was blame, as well as "many fine people" on both sides of the conflict in which nazi-sympathizer murdered one person and injured 19 more with his car.
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AFL-CIO Bails Out Soon after Trump's rant, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations president Richard Trumka resigned from the manufacturing council.
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Advisory Councils Disband On Wednesday, members of Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum agreed to disband after Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville. Soon after, the president announced via Twitter that he was ending his executive councils.
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"I Voted For Trump, And I Sorely Regret It" That's the title of a New York Times op-ed written by Julius Krein, the founder and editor of pro-Trump website American Affairs. It went viral, though mainly because people were mocking it.
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Trump Loses a Murdoch James Murdoch, CEO of 21st Century Fox and more importantly son of media magnate and conservative icon Rupert Murdoch, dissed Trump in a widely circulated email to employees. He also said he and his wife will donate $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League over POTUS' response to Charlottesville.
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The Arts and Humanities Council Disses Trump, then Disbands The Arts and Humanities Comittee resigned Friday morning en masse with a letter written so that the first letters of every paragraph spelled “RESIST.” The members include Kal Penn, Paula Boggs, Chuck Close, Richard Cohen, Fred Goldring and more.
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Bannon Ousted White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon was reportedly fired Friday morning, though he insists he resigned July 27—giving two weeks’ notice—but his leaving was put off because of the events in Charlottesville. He will return to Breitbart news to go to “war” for Trump.
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Still More Resignations Politico reported Friday afternoon that a "wave of resignations" hit the Commerce Dept.'s "digital economy" board. More than half the members of the 15-member board resigned.
WikiCommons
A Billionaire BFF Bails on Trump Billionaire investor Carl Icahn stepped down Friday afternoon as unofficial special advisor to Trump, though he doesn't pile on. “I sincerely regret that because of your extremely busy schedule, as well as my own, I have not had the opportunity to spend nearly as much time as I’d hoped on regulatory issues,” he said in a letter to Trump.
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From the manufacturing council to James Murdoch, Trump’s response to Charlottesville has severed ties
In the wake of Trump's response to a violent white supremacist rally, "Unite the Right," in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend, several business leaders, council members and media personalities severed ties with the president. Quite a lot actually.