Arpaio standing by Trump ‘pardon or no pardon’

Joe Arpaio, a former sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz., who was convicted of defying a court order related to racial discrimination, said Wednesday that he’s with President Trump “pardon or no pardon.” 

“I have great deal of respect for him, I always will, pardon or no pardon. I’m with him to the end, as long as he’s the president, I will support him,” he told Neil Cavuto on Fox Business. 

Trump hinted at a rally in Phoenix on Tuesday night that he would pardon the sheriff, who was found guilty of contempt of court for refusing to comply with a 2011 court order to stop his office’s use of racial profiling to enforce immigration laws.

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

The White House has reportedly drafted the paperwork necessary for when Trump makes a decision on pardoning the 85-year-old Arpaio.

“I really appreciate the president’s nice comments and support,” Arpaio told Cavuto. “One day I’ll go public and talk about the tremendous abuse of the process. If they can do what they did to me, they can do it to anybody.”

Arpaio is set for a sentencing hearing in October, where he will face a maximum sentence of 6 months in jail.

In the interview, Arpaio reiterated his earlier claim that his violation of the court order was unintentional, as he and his men had “authority under the program with [Immigrations and Customs Enforcement]” to continue apprehending illegal immigrants. 

“First of all, it started 60 days after Obama and [former Attorney General Eric] Holder took office,” Arpaio said of the legal proceedings.

Arpaio, like Trump, has promoted the unfounded “birther” conspiracy theory that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.