Dem rep: Trump pardon for Arpaio would make it easier to pardon Trump Jr.

Democrats warned President Trump on Monday against pardoning controversial former Maricopa Country, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio at the president’s Tuesday night rally in Phoenix, with one congressman saying a pardon would serve to make it easier for Trump to pardon anyone implicated in the investigation into alleged Trump campaign ties to Russia. 

“We are not surprised,” Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) told reporters at a Democratic event ahead of the rally when asked about Trump’s admission he is considering pardoning the controversial sheriff. 

“The president himself believes he’s above the law, and it does not surprise me he thinks Arpaio is above the law. It would be a disgrace to the office of president, which at this point we should be used to.” 

Gallego added that a pardon could help “placate his xenophobic, racist base” and predicted that the move would be used to “set the standard for pardons” to make it easier for him to pardon anyone charged in the special counsel investigation into Trump’s campaign and Russia. 

Donald Trump Jr., Trump’s eldest son, has been the subject of scrutiny after reports emerged that he met with a Russian lawyer during the campaign.

{mosads}”He’s going to want to pardon his sons at some point or another,” Gallego said. 

Gallego joined Democratic National Committee CEO Jess O’Connell and Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Alexis Tameron at the Monday press conference, which served as a preview of the party response to Trump’s rally. 

During her comments, O’Connell blasted Trump’s decision to hold a political rally shortly after the tragedy in Charlottesville, Va., during which one woman was killed when a car rammed a group of counterprotesters. A man with ties to a white supremacist group has been charged in the case. 

O’Connell connected the potential pardon for Arpaio to the criticisms that Trump has not gone far enough in the aftermath of the Charlottesville violence to repudiate white supremacist groups. 

“Donald Trump has decided to come to Arizona tomorrow not to help heal our nation, but to stoke fears and continue to divide us,” she said.  

“A pardon for Joe Arpaio is a pardon for white supremacy.” 

Trump raised eyebrows earlier this month when he told Fox News he is considering pardoning Arpaio, the former Maricopa County sheriff who is waiting to be sentenced after violating a federal order. The president announced just days after that interview that he would hold a campaign rally in Phoenix, stoking speculation he could use the event in Arpaio’s home state to pardon him. 

A federal judge found Arpaio guilty of ignoring an order to stop what the court considered to be racial profiling in his office. Arpaio lost reelection in 2016, before the guilty verdict was handed down. He’s scheduled to be sentenced this fall.