America's 'toughest sheriff' in Obama birth certificate probe
Source: Agencies |
March 2, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AMERICA'S self-proclaimed toughest sheriff finds himself entangled these days in his own thorny legal troubles: a federal grand jury probe over alleged abuse of power, Justice Department accusations of racial profiling and revelations that his department didn't adequately investigate hundreds of Arizona sex crime cases.
Rather than seek cover, though, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is seeking to grab the spotlight in the same unorthodox fashion that has boosted his career as a nationally known lawman.
Arpaio scheduled a news conference yesterday to unveil preliminary results of an investigation, conducted by members of his volunteer cold-case posse, into the authenticity of US President Barack Obama's birth certificate, a controversy that has been widely debunked but which remains alive in the eyes of some conservatives.
The 79-year-old Republican sheriff declined to offer clues beforehand to what the probe may have found - but defends his need to spearhead such an investigation after 250 people connected to an Arizona tea party group requested one.
"I'm not going after Obama," said Arpaio, who has criticized the president's administration for cutting off his federal immigration powers and conducting a civil rights investigation of his office. "I'm just doing my job."
Some critics suggest Arpaio's aim is to divert attention from his own legal troubles while raising his political profile as he seeks a sixth term this year. The sheriff denies this.
"You say I need this to get elected? Are you kidding me? I've been elected five times. I don't need this," he said recently.
Arpaio's probe comes amid a federal grand jury investigation into the sheriff's office on criminal abuse-of-power allegations since at least December 2009, focusing on the sheriff's anti-public corruption squad.
Separately, the US Justice Department has accused Arpaio's office of racially profiling Latinos, basing immigration enforcement on racially charged citizen complaints and punishing Hispanic jail inmates for speaking Spanish. Arpaio denies the allegations.
And critics have sought Arpaio's resignation for more than 400 sex crime cases over three years that were inadequately investigated or not investigated at all. The sheriff's office said the backlog has been cleared up.
Rather than seek cover, though, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is seeking to grab the spotlight in the same unorthodox fashion that has boosted his career as a nationally known lawman.
Arpaio scheduled a news conference yesterday to unveil preliminary results of an investigation, conducted by members of his volunteer cold-case posse, into the authenticity of US President Barack Obama's birth certificate, a controversy that has been widely debunked but which remains alive in the eyes of some conservatives.
The 79-year-old Republican sheriff declined to offer clues beforehand to what the probe may have found - but defends his need to spearhead such an investigation after 250 people connected to an Arizona tea party group requested one.
"I'm not going after Obama," said Arpaio, who has criticized the president's administration for cutting off his federal immigration powers and conducting a civil rights investigation of his office. "I'm just doing my job."
Some critics suggest Arpaio's aim is to divert attention from his own legal troubles while raising his political profile as he seeks a sixth term this year. The sheriff denies this.
"You say I need this to get elected? Are you kidding me? I've been elected five times. I don't need this," he said recently.
Arpaio's probe comes amid a federal grand jury investigation into the sheriff's office on criminal abuse-of-power allegations since at least December 2009, focusing on the sheriff's anti-public corruption squad.
Separately, the US Justice Department has accused Arpaio's office of racially profiling Latinos, basing immigration enforcement on racially charged citizen complaints and punishing Hispanic jail inmates for speaking Spanish. Arpaio denies the allegations.
And critics have sought Arpaio's resignation for more than 400 sex crime cases over three years that were inadequately investigated or not investigated at all. The sheriff's office said the backlog has been cleared up.
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