Tornado Alley (PROG)

[arizona1]

Walls Close In On Joe Arpaio: Feds Subpoena Report. UPDATE! Arpaio Fires Aides

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been under investigation by the Department of Justice since late 2009. The Feds are looking into a shit load of criminal allegations, among them:

• Abuse of powers, including Arpaio's harassment of politicians, County staff, and judges who blocked his attempts to erect a police state;
• Cronyism and a culture of corruption at the Sheriff's Office, such as senior staff setting up an illegal fund that laundered donations to support Arpaio's 2008 campaign;
• Racial profiling, stemming from Arpaio's immigration sweeps, where the Sheriff's deputies literally march through a neighborhood or business, questioning and sometimes arresting people who look suspicious (that is, brown);
• Misuse of funds, including nearly $100 million earmarked for jail maintenance and inmate services that Arpaio misspent on his immigration unit;
• Piss-poor operations, which has led taxpayers of Maricopa County to shell out millions of dollars in lawsuits brought by the families of people who were unlawfully arrested, mistreated, or even killed while in the Sheriff's custody.

Today the walls closing in on Arpaio moved a little closer:

[see update at end]

The U.S. Attorney's Office has subpoenaed the sensitive investigative report detailing findings about alleged misconduct involving Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio's three top commanders, The Arizona Republic has learned.

Arpaio's Deputy Chief Jack MacIntyre confirmed Thursday that the U.S. Attorney's Office subpoenaed the report Tuesday or Wednesday. The Sheriff's Office has not yet publicly released the report or given any indication when it or its findings will be released. Arizona Republic

The report referred to was conducted by Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu, an Arpaio wannabe. Last year, in April 2010, Deputy Chief Frank Munnell released a scathing 63-page memo that brought to light the corrupt and unethical nature of operations at the Sheriff's Office. The memo was particularly hard on Chief Deputy David Hendershott, a Jaba-the-Hut-like character who, in the memo, comes off like a vindictive, intimidating, manipulative prick. He appears to be the guy behind many of the criminal operations, including the slush fund that tapped illegal contributions to smear Arpaio's 2008 challenger with the infamous masturbation TV ad. Just yesterday we learned that Hendershott may have embezzled money from the Sheriff's Pink Underwear Fund to pay his gambling debts. You can't make this shit up.

Munnell also secretly taped a staff meeting during which Arpaio and his boys sit around and describe political enemies (and even their supposed friends) as "dickhead" and "nutcase." Hendershott says of one problem County Manager, "I'm gonna choke him till he dies." I'm reminded of the great Madeline Kahn's line in Blazing Saddles: "Gee, what a swell guy." Not.

The memo was such a media bombshell that there was no way Arpaio could spin it away. He placed three of his top aides on paid leave, pending the results of an inquiry into Munnell's allegations. To conduct the investigation Arpaio selected the bullet-headed Sheriff Paul Babeu, who was the co-star of McCain's "build the dang fence" ad. Arpaio probably thought his partner in the immigration wars would whitewash the allegations, and he could get back to building Joe's World.

Surprise, surprise. Babeu delivered the findings of his 6-month investigation last week -- a 1,022-page report that Babeu refused to discuss until Arpaio had a chance to read and comment on first. Sources close to the investigation, however, say the report is particularly critical of Arpaio's senior aides, and recommends that all three men on leave be fired. However, we don't know what, if anything, the report says about Arpaio's involvement in the alleged criminal activities.

And Arpaio isn't talking; thus far he has refused to release the report to the media, after numerous requests: "Arpaio's office cited federal civil-rights laws that protect public employees, among other reasons, in blocking release of the information." Suddenly he's concerned about civil rights. Yesterday we did learn that Arpaio met with investigators for nearly six hours. I'd love to hear the song and dance he did during those sessions, because it's hard to believe that a control freak like Arpaio had no knowledge of what his most senior staff (and close friends) were up to.

Arpaio has been stonewalling the Federal investigation since the get-go, so it'll be interesting to see how he responds to this week's subpoena. The Feds have requested that he turn over Babeu's report by May 4. Chips and salsa?

"Slowing I turned, step by step, inch by inch ..."

UPDATE: We just learned Friday afternoon that Arpaio has fired two of his top aides:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio fired Chief Deputy David Hendershott and Deputy Chief Larry Black Friday following a six-month investigation into allegations of misconduct that targeted those two top aides and Capt. Joel Fox.

Hendershott and Black were told they were fired in letters the Sheriff's Office delivered to their homes on Friday afternoon. Arizona Republic

As one commenter wrote, "Two down, Joe to go."
Originally posted to Mother Mags on Thu Apr 21, 2011 at 07:16 PM PDT.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/21/969100/-Walls-Close-In-On-Joe-Arpaio:-Feds-Subpoena-Report-UPDATE!-Arpaio-Fires-Aides