Joe Arpaio and Donald Trump
NEVER LET A CRISIS GO TO WASTE
Donald Trump whips up storm with pardon for toughest sheriff Joe Arpaio
As Hurricane Harvey lashes Texas, the president has sparked a justice row by saving the scourge of immigrants from jail
Josh Glancy in New York
August 27 2017 The Sunday Times
Donald Trump with Arpaio at a campaign rally after the sheriff endorsed Trump’s candidacy
BRIAN SNYDER
As Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coastline this weekend Donald Trump stirred a tempest of his own with a series of controversial announcements issued at the height of the fiercest storm to hit America for more than a decade.
While torrential downpours lashed the southern Gulf coast — reportedly propelling alligators down suburban streets — the president used his executive power to pardon a former Arizona sheriff who had become one of Trump’s most loyal political allies.
Joe Arpaio, former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, was convicted in July of criminal contempt of court after defying an order to stop detaining suspected illegal immigrants. Arpaio, 85, had built a national reputation as “America’s toughest sheriff”.
Seen as the scourge of undocumented immigrants, he had forced inmates in his jails to wear pink underwear. He was awaiting sentencing and faced jail himself until Trump started hinting that he was considering a pardon.
The president obliged late on Friday as America’s attention was focused on the weather mayhem unfolding in Texas.
In a tweet Trump said Arpaio was an “American patriot” who “kept Arizona safe”. The pair have long had a friendly association going back to their mutual involvement in the so-called BIRTHER MOVEMENT, which had claimed that former President Barack Obama had lied about being born on American soil.
The former sheriff thanked Trump for his intervention and referred to his conviction as a “political witch-hunt by holdovers in the Obama justice department”.
Pardons are traditionally issued after consultation between the White House and the justice department and usually at the end of a presidency.
Trump’s apparent decision to act unilaterally after only a few months in office generated a furious reaction from liberals and some Republicans in Washington.
John McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona, said the president’s decision to pardon Arpaio “undermines his claim for the RESPECT OF THE RULE OF LAW”.
Former acting attorney-general Sally Yates, an Obama appointee who was sacked by Trump, tweeted: “With his pardon pen, Potus [the president] reveals his own contempt for our constitution, our courts and our founding principles of equality and justice.”
The response among Trump supporters was closer to delight. As Roger Stone, the veteran Republican strategist and one of his earliest and most prominent backers, put it: “Eat it, liberals!”
The White House also confirmed last night that Trump’s much-criticised ban on transgender people serving in the military would go ahead, although those who are currently serving might be able to continue to do so.
As if that were not enough White House drama for one night, it emerged that Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s senior British-born aide, had left the White House, apparently after being ousted by General John Kelly, Trump’s chief of staff.
Gorka, 46, had turned into one of the most outspoken members of the Trump White House. An American citizen who was born in Britain to Hungarian parents, he had worked as an editor at Breitbart News run by Stephen Bannon, the multimillionaire right-wing media baron who until recently had been Trump’s chief strategist.
Gorka has been accused of links to far-right groups in Hungary and was repeatedly condemned for hardline views that his critics characterised as Islamophobic.
He was a prime cheerleader for Trump’s abortive efforts to ban travel from several predominantly Muslim countries and earlier this year dismissed an interview question from Emily Maitlis, the Newsnight presenter, as “an argument from an extremist I wouldn’t expect from the BBC”. Maitlis responded archly: “I’m sorry you find me extremist.”
Bannon’s departure had put Gorka’s future in doubt. Although he was reported by some media to have resigned, a White House spokesman later made clear he had been asked to leave.
In yet another potentially ominous development, special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, has issued subpoenas to several business executives who had worked with the former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.
The move casts Trump’s pardon of Arpaio in a slightly different light. Some viewed it as part of a more sinister power play: a signal from the president that any friend of his might also benefit from a pardon — provided they stick by him, regardless of any media storms.
Joe Arpaio and Donald Trump
NEVER LET A CRISIS GO TO WASTE
Donald Trump whips up storm with pardon for toughest sheriff Joe Arpaio
As Hurricane Harvey lashes Texas, the president has sparked a justice row by saving the scourge of immigrants from jail
Josh Glancy in New York
August 27 2017 The Sunday Times
Donald Trump with Arpaio at a campaign rally after the sheriff endorsed Trump’s candidacy
BRIAN SNYDER
As Hurricane Harvey slammed into the Texas coastline this weekend Donald Trump stirred a tempest of his own with a series of controversial announcements issued at the height of the fiercest storm to hit America for more than a decade.
While torrential downpours lashed the southern Gulf coast — reportedly propelling alligators down suburban streets — the president used his executive power to pardon a former Arizona sheriff who had become one of Trump’s most loyal political allies.
Joe Arpaio, former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, was convicted in July of criminal contempt of court after defying an order to stop detaining suspected illegal immigrants. Arpaio, 85, had built a national reputation as “America’s toughest sheriff”.
Seen as the scourge of undocumented immigrants, he had forced inmates in his jails to wear pink underwear. He was awaiting sentencing and faced jail himself until Trump started hinting that he was considering a pardon.
The president obliged late on Friday as America’s attention was focused on the weather mayhem unfolding in Texas.
In a tweet Trump said Arpaio was an “American patriot” who “kept Arizona safe”. The pair have long had a friendly association going back to their mutual involvement in the so-called BIRTHER MOVEMENT, which had claimed that former President Barack Obama had lied about being born on American soil.
The former sheriff thanked Trump for his intervention and referred to his conviction as a “political witch-hunt by holdovers in the Obama justice department”.
Pardons are traditionally issued after consultation between the White House and the justice department and usually at the end of a presidency.
Trump’s apparent decision to act unilaterally after only a few months in office generated a furious reaction from liberals and some Republicans in Washington.
John McCain, the Republican senator from Arizona, said the president’s decision to pardon Arpaio “undermines his claim for the RESPECT OF THE RULE OF LAW”.
Former acting attorney-general Sally Yates, an Obama appointee who was sacked by Trump, tweeted: “With his pardon pen, Potus [the president] reveals his own contempt for our constitution, our courts and our founding principles of equality and justice.”
The response among Trump supporters was closer to delight. As Roger Stone, the veteran Republican strategist and one of his earliest and most prominent backers, put it: “Eat it, liberals!”
The White House also confirmed last night that Trump’s much-criticised ban on transgender people serving in the military would go ahead, although those who are currently serving might be able to continue to do so.
As if that were not enough White House drama for one night, it emerged that Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s senior British-born aide, had left the White House, apparently after being ousted by General John Kelly, Trump’s chief of staff.
Gorka, 46, had turned into one of the most outspoken members of the Trump White House. An American citizen who was born in Britain to Hungarian parents, he had worked as an editor at Breitbart News run by Stephen Bannon, the multimillionaire right-wing media baron who until recently had been Trump’s chief strategist.
Gorka has been accused of links to far-right groups in Hungary and was repeatedly condemned for hardline views that his critics characterised as Islamophobic.
He was a prime cheerleader for Trump’s abortive efforts to ban travel from several predominantly Muslim countries and earlier this year dismissed an interview question from Emily Maitlis, the Newsnight presenter, as “an argument from an extremist I wouldn’t expect from the BBC”. Maitlis responded archly: “I’m sorry you find me extremist.”
Bannon’s departure had put Gorka’s future in doubt. Although he was reported by some media to have resigned, a White House spokesman later made clear he had been asked to leave.
In yet another potentially ominous development, special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating ties between the Trump campaign and Russia, has issued subpoenas to several business executives who had worked with the former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.
The move casts Trump’s pardon of Arpaio in a slightly different light. Some viewed it as part of a more sinister power play: a signal from the president that any friend of his might also benefit from a pardon — provided they stick by him, regardless of any media storms.