Trump will make an announcement on Arpaio at ‘appropriate’ time: White House

President Trump will make an announcement on whether he will pardon former Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio “at the appropriate time,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Wednesday.

“I think that he’ll continue to make his plans clear when he’s ready and at the appropriate time, and we’ll certainly keep you guys posted on that,” she told reporters aboard Air Force One. 

Trump himself appeared to hint at a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night that he was preparing to pardon the controversial former sheriff, who was convicted last month of criminal contempt. 

{mosads}

“I won’t do it tonight because I don’t want to cause any controversy, all right?” Trump said. “But Sheriff Joe can feel good.”

Trump had previously said that he was seriously considering a pardon for Arpaio, and speculation swirled that he could use his Tuesday rally to do so. 

But hours before the event, Sanders said the president had no plans to do so that night.

Arpaio was charged with criminal contempt after he defied a court order to stop rounding up people he and his deputies suspected of living the U.S. illegally. He is set to be sentenced for that conviction in October and could serve up to six months in jail. 

Trump suggested Tuesday that Arpaio was convicted simply for “doing his job,” and predicted that the former law enforcement official would be “just fine.”

Arpaio served 24 years as the sheriff of Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix, before he was unseated in last year’s election by current Sheriff Paul Penzone, a Democrat.